Nils T. Nyberg

From Retrospective Assessment to Prospective Decisions in Natural Product Isolation: HPLC-SPE-NMR Analysis of Carthamus oxyacantha

An extract of Carthamus oxyacantha (wild safflower) was investigated using two approaches: a traditional, nontarget fractionation by VLC and HPLC, and the hyphenated technique HPLC-PDA-HRMS-SPE-NMR followed by targeted isolation of selected constituents for inclusion in a screening library of pure natural products. While the nontarget fractionation involved considerable time spent on pursuing fractions containing well-known or undesired compounds, the hyphenated analysis was considerably faster and required less solvent and other consumables. The results were used to design and execute an optimized, HPLC-HRMS-guided, targeted isolation scheme aiming exclusively at a series of identified spiro compounds. Thus, HPLC-PDA-HRMS-SPE-NMR is a dereplication technique of choice, allowing economical acquisition of comprehensive data about compounds in crude extracts, which can be used for rational, prospective decisions about further isolation efforts. A total of 15 compounds were identified in the extract. Six spiro compounds, of which four have not previously been characterized, and tracheloside (a lignin glucoside) are presented with assigned 1H and 13C chemical shifts.

Metabolic profiling of Rhodiola rosea rhizomes by 1H NMR spectroscopy

INTRODUCTION Rhodiola rosea is a broadly used medicinal plant with largely unexplored natural variability in secondary metabolite levels. OBJECTIVE The aim of this work was to develop a non-target procedure for ¹H NMR spectroscopic fingerprinting of rhizome extracts for pattern recognition analysis and identification of secondary metabolites responsible for differences in sample composition. To achieve this, plants from three different geographic areas (Swiss Alps, Finland, and Altai region in Siberia) were investigated. RESULTS A sample preparation procedure was developed in order to remove polymeric polyphenols as the ¹H NMR analysis of low-molecular-weight metabolites was hampered by the presence of tannins. Principal component analysis disclosed tight clustering of samples according to population. PCA models based on the aromatic region of the spectra showed that the first two components reflected changes in the content of salidroside and rosavin, respectively, the rosavin content being negatively correlated to that of rhodiocyanoside A and minor aromatics. Score plots and non-parametric variance tests demonstrated population-dependent changes according to harvest time. Data consistency was assessed using score plots and box-and-whisker graphs. In addition, a procedure for presenting loadings of PCA models based on bucketed data as high-resolution plots, which are reminiscent of real ¹H NMR spectra and help to identify latent biomarkers, is presented. CONCLUSION This study demonstrated the usefulness of the established procedure for multivariate non-target ¹H NMR metabolic profiling of Rhodiola rosea.

Assessment of constituents in Allium by multivariate data analysis, high-resolution α-glucosidase inhibition assay and HPLC-SPE-NMR.

Bulbs and leaves of 35 Allium species and cultivars bought or collected in 2010-2012 were investigated with multivariate data analysis, high-resolution α-glucosidase inhibition assays and HPLC-HRMS-SPE-NMR with the aim of exploring the potential of Allium as a future functional food for management of type 2 diabetes. It was found that 30 out of 106 crude extracts showed more than 80% inhibition of the α-glucosidase enzyme at a concentration of 40mg/mL (dry sample) or 0.4g/mL (fresh sample). High-resolution α-glucosidase biochromatograms of these extracts allowed fast identification of three analytes with α-glucosidase inhibitory activity, and subsequent HPLC-HRMS-SPE-NMR experiments allowed identification of these as N-p-coumaroyloctopamine, N-p-coumaroyltyramine, and quercetin. The distribution of these three compounds was mapped for all samples by HPLC-ESI-HRMS. Unsupervised principal component analysis of samples from 2012 indicated that a major difference between fresh material and dried material is the increased amount of quercetin, a known α-glucosidase inhibitor.

Targeting high-performance liquid chromatography–high-resolution mass spectrometry–solid-phase extraction–nuclear magnetic resonance analysis with high-resolution radical scavenging profiles—Bioactive secondary metabolites from the endophytic fungus Penicillium namyslowskii

The high-resolution radical scavenging profile of an extract of the endophytic fungus Penicillium namyslowskii was used to target analysis by high-performance liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry-solid-phase extraction-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, i.e., HPLC-HRMS-SPE-NMR, for identification of anti-oxidative secondary metabolites. This revealed the two chromatographic peaks with the highest relative response in the radical scavenging profile to be griseophenone C and peniprequinolone. The HPLC-HRMS-SPE-NMR analysis was performed in the tube-transfer mode using a cryogenically cooled NMR probe designed for 1.7mm NMR tubes. To further explore the potential of the above HPLC-HRMS-SPE-NMR platform for analysis of endophytic extracts, six peaks displaying no radical scavenging activity were also analyzed. This allowed unambiguous identification of six metabolites, i.e., dechlorogriseofulvin, dechlorodehydrogriseofulvin, griseofulvin, dehydrogriseofulvin, mevastatin acid, and mevastatin. The high mass sensitivity of the 1.7mm cryogenically cooled NMR probe allowed for the first time acquisition of direct detected (13)C NMR spectra of fungal metabolites, i.e., dechlorogriseofulvin and griseofulvin, directly from crude extract via HPLC-HRMS-SPE-NMR. Dechlorodehydrogriseofulvin was reported for the first time from nature.

Maritime Halophyte Species from Southern Portugal as Sources of Bioactive Molecules

Extracts of five halophytes from southern Portugal (Arthrocnemum macrostachyum, Mesembryanthemum edule, Juncus acutus, Plantago coronopus and Halimione portulacoides), were studied for antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and in vitro antitumor properties. The most active extracts towards the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical were the methanol extracts of M. edule (IC50 = 0.1 mg/mL) and J. acutus (IC50 = 0.4 mg/mL), and the ether extracts of J. acutus (IC50 = 0.2 mg/mL) and A. macrostachyum (IC50 = 0.3 mg/mL). The highest radical scavenging activity (RSA) against the 2,2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS) radical was obtained in the ether extract of J. acutus (IC50 = 0.4 mg/mL) and H. portulacoides (IC50 = 0.9 mg/mL). The maximum total phenolic content (TPC) was found in the methanol extract of M. edule (147 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/g) and in the ether extract of J. acutus (94 mg GAE/g). Significant decreases in nitric oxide (NO) production were observed after incubation of macrophages with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and the chloroform extract of H. portulacoides (IC50 = 109 µg/mL) and the hexane extract of P. coronopus (IC50 = 98.0 µg/mL). High in vitro cytotoxic activity and selectivity was obtained with the ether extract of J. acutus. Juncunol was identified as the active compound and for the first time was shown to display selective in vitro cytotoxicity towards various human cancer cells.

Direct 13C NMR Detection in HPLC Hyphenation Mode: Analysis of Ganoderma lucidum Terpenoids

Solid phase extraction (SPE) was introduced as a crucial step in the HPLC-SPE-NMR technique to enable online analyte enrichment from which proton-detected NMR experiments on submicrogram amounts from complex mixtures were possible. However, the significance of direct-detected (13)C NMR experiments is indubitable in simplifying structural elucidations. In the current study, we demonstrated direct (13)C NMR detection of triterpenoids from a Ganoderma lucidum extract in hyphenation mode. The combined advantage of a cryogenically cooled probe, miniaturization, and multiple trapping enabled the first reported application of HPLC-SPE-NMR analysis using direct-detected (13)C NMR spectra. HPLC column loading, accumulative SPE trappings, and the effect of different elution solvents were evaluated and optimized. A column loading of approximately 600 μg of a prefractionated triterpenoid mixture, six trappings, and an acquisition time of 13 h resulted in spectra with adequate signal-to-noise ratios to detect all C-13 signals.

HPLC-NMR revisited: using time-slice high-performance liquid chromatography-solid-phase extraction-nuclear magnetic resonance with database-assisted dereplication.

Time-based trapping of chromatographically separated compounds onto solid-phase extraction (SPE) cartridges and subsequent elution to NMR tubes was done to emulate the function of HPLC-NMR for dereplication purposes. Sufficient mass sensitivity was obtained by use of a state-of-the-art HPLC-SPE-NMR system with a cryogenically cooled probe head, designed for 1.7 mm NMR tubes. The resulting (1)H NMR spectra (600 MHz) were evaluated against a database of previously acquired and prepared spectra. The in-house-developed matching algorithm, based on partitioning of the spectra and allowing for changes in the chemical shifts, is described. Two mixtures of natural products were used to test the approach: an extract of Carthamus oxyacantha (wild safflower), containing an array of spiro compounds, and an extract of the endophytic fungus Penicillum namyslowski, containing griseofulvin and analogues. The database matching of the resulting spectra positively identified expected compounds, while the number of false positives was few and easily recognized.

Synthetic analogs of anoplin show improved antimicrobial activities

We present the antimicrobial and hemolytic activities of the decapeptide anoplin and 19 analogs thereof tested against methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 33591 (MRSA), Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853), vancomycin‐resistant Enterococcus faecium (ATCC 700221) (VRE), and Candida albicans (ATCC 200955). The anoplin analogs contain substitutions in amino acid positions 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10. We use these peptides to study the effect of altering the charge and hydrophobicity of anoplin on activity against red blood cells and microorganisms. We find that increasing the charge and/or hydrophobicity improves antimicrobial activity and increases hemolytic activity. For each strain tested, we identify at least six anoplin analogs with an improved therapeutic index compared with anoplin, the only exception being Enterococcus faecium, against which only few compounds are more specific than anoplin. Both 2Nal6 and Cha6 show improved therapeutic index against all strains tested. Copyright

Triple aldose reductase/α-glucosidase/radical scavenging high-resolution profiling combined with high-performance liquid chromatography–high-resolution mass spectrometry–solid-phase extraction–nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy for identification of antidiabetic constituents in crude extract of Radix Scutellariae

In this work, development of a new microplate-based high-resolution profiling assay using recombinant human aldose reductase is presented. Used together with high-resolution radical scavenging and high-resolution α-glucosidase assays, it provided the first report of a triple aldose reductase/α-glucosidase/radical scavenging high-resolution inhibition profile - allowing proof of concept with Radix Scutellariae crude extract as a polypharmacological herbal drug. The triple bioactivity high-resolution profiles were used to pinpoint bioactive compounds, and subsequent structure elucidation was performed with hyphenated high-performance liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry-solid-phase extraction-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The only α-glucosidase inhibitor was baicalein, whereas main aldose reductase inhibitors in the crude extract were baicalein and skullcapflavone II, and main radical scavengers were ganhuangemin, viscidulin III, baicalin, oroxylin A 7-O-glucuronide, wogonoside, baicalein, wogonin, and skullcapflavone II.

Metabolic Profiling Based on Two-Dimensional J-Resolved 1H NMR Data and Parallel Factor Analysis

Metabolic profiling of natural products is used to map correlated concentration variances of known and unknown secondary metabolites in extracts. NMR-spectroscopy is in this respect regarded as a convenient and reproducible technique with the ability to detect a wide range of small organic compounds. Two-dimensional J-resolved NMR-spectra are used in this context to resolve overlapping signals by separating the effect of J-coupling from the effect of chemical shifts. Often one-dimensional projections of these data are used as input for standard multivariate statistical methods, and only the intensity variances along the chemical shift axis are taken into account. Here, we describe the use of parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) as a tool to preprocess a set of two-dimensional J-resolved spectra with the aim of keeping the J-coupling information intact. PARAFAC is a mathematical decomposition method that fits three-way experimental data to a model whose parameters in this case reflect concentrations and individual component spectra along the chemical shift axis and corresponding profiles along the J-coupling axis. A set of saffron samples, directly extracted with methanol-d(4), were used as a model system to evaluate the feasibility and merits of the method. To successfully use PARAFAC, the two-dimensional spectra (n = 96) had to be aligned and processed in narrow windows (0.04 ppm wide) along the chemical shift axis. Selection of windows and number of components for each PARAFAC-model was done automatically by evaluating amount of explained variance and core consistency values. Score plots showing the distribution of objects in relation to each other, and loading plots in the form of two-dimensional pseudospectra with the same appearance as the original J-resolved spectra but with positive and negative contributions are presented. Loadings are interpreted not only in terms of signals with different chemical shifts but also the associated J-coupling profiles.