An ultra-robust fingerprinting method for quality assessment of traditional Chinese medicine using multiple reaction monitoring mass spectrometry

Chromatographic fingerprinting has been perceived as an essential tool for assessing quality and chemical equivalence of traditional Chinese medicine.However,this pattern-oriented approach still has some weak points in terms of chemical coverage and robustness.In this work,we proposed a multiple reaction monitoring(MRM)-based fingerprinting method in which approximately 100 constituents were simultaneously detected for quality assessment.The derivative MRM approach was employed to rapidly design MRM transitions independent of chemical standards,based on which the large-scale fingerprinting method was efficiently established.This approach was exemplified on QiShenYiQi Pill(QSYQ),a traditional Chinese medicine-derived drug product,and its robustness was systematically evaluated by four indices:clustering analysis by principal component analysis,similarity analysis by the congruence coefficient,the number of separated peaks,and the peak area proportion of separated peaks.Compared with conventional ultraviolet-based fingerprints,the MRM fingerprints provided not only better discriminatory capacity for the tested normal/abnormal QSYQ samples,but also higher robustness under different chromatographic conditions(i.e.,flow rate,apparent pH,column temperature,and column).The result also showed for such large-scale fingerprints including a large number of peaks,the angle cosine measure after min-max normalization was more suitable for setting a decision criterion than the unnormalized algorithm.This proof-of-concept application gives evidence that combining MRM technique with proper similarity analysis metrices can provide a highly sensitive,robust and comprehensive analytical approach for quality assessment of traditional Chinese medicine.

Multiple reaction monitoring for the detection of disease-related synaptic proteins

Synaptic dysfunction occurs early in Alzheimer＇s disease （AD） and is acknowledged as a primary pathologic target for treatment. Synaptic degeneration is the pathological feature most strongly correlated with loss of cognitive function ante mortern （Terry et al., 1991）. Synapses are heavily damaged in hippocampal and neocortical regions of AD brain, whereas motor and occipital cortices are relatively spared （Honer et al., 1992）. Despite extensive work, the molecular mechanisms underlying synaptic degeneration are largely unknown.

The Construction and Thinking of the National Sentinel Alliance for Adverse Drug Reaction Monitoring

Objective To briefly introduce the construction and operation of the National Sentinel Alliance for Adverse Drug Reaction(ADR)Monitoring,and provide reference for strengthening the safety monitoring of drugs after listing in China.Methods The literature research method was used to analyze the establishment and promotion measures of the National Sentinel Alliance for ADR Monitoring,and then some countermeasures and suggestions were put forward to enhance the construction of the alliance.Results and Conclusion The alliance based on Chinese hospital pharmacovigilance system(CHPS)has played an important role in ADR monitoring and reporting.Promoting the construction of the alliance can provide a new method for improving the scientific evaluation system and active supervision system of drug safety after listing.Therefore,the construction of alliances at the national and provincial levels should be strengthened.Besides,relevant laws and regulations must be improved to accelerate the research and development of information systems,which will deepen the active monitoring of the alliance continuously.

Rapid Simultaneous Determination of Four Ganoderic Acids in Ganoderma(Chinese Name:Lingzhi)by Direct Infusion-Multiple Reaction Monitoring Cubed

Attributing to the rapid demand expansion for the edible medicinal materials in the market,the limited throughput of highperformance liquid chromatography-multiple reaction monitoring(HPLC-MRM)cannot fully address the measurement workload for a huge number of testing samples.Hence,it is urgent to pursue more efficient approaches for the quality evaluation.Because of the greater selectivity of MRM cubed(MRM^(3))over MRM,there might be a chance to omit the time-intensive LC separation.In current study,we attempted to develop a direct infusion(DI)-MRM^(3) program,and the applicability was thereafter assessed through simultaneous determination of four ganoderic acids(GAs)in one of the most famous tonic herbal medicines namely Ganoderma(Chinese name:Lingzhi).Primary parameters such as Q1>Q3>QLIT ion transitions,collision energy(CE),and excitation energy were optimized by programming online energy-resolved mass spectrometry with authentic compounds.A single DI-MRM measurement merely costed four minutes,and in spite of the wide occurrences of isomers,satisfactory selectivity was achieved.Method validation assays demonstrated the method to be sensitive,precise,accurate,and reproducible.The quantitative results from DI-MRM^(3) were also justified by conducting LC-MRM measurements in parallel.Significant differences occurred for the content patterns between the two original sources namely Ganoderma lucidum and G.sinense,and,moreover,either cultivar or harvest time showed dramatical influence on the quantitative features of the four targeted GAs.More importantly,DI-MRM3 is a meaningful analytical option for rapid quantitative analysis of herbal medicines,because of the comparable reliability,nonetheless,less consumptions of both measurement time and solvent,compared with LC-MRM.

An Automated,Highly Selective Reaction Monitoring Instrument Using Molecular Rotational Resonance Spectroscopy

Online monitoring of chemical reactions by using analytical chemistry tools is a powerful way to maximize control over these processes.In this paper,we demonstrate the use of molecular rotational resonance,an emerging and extraordinarily selective spectroscopic technique,to perform automated reaction monitoring measurements.An interface using a six-port valve with a calibrated sample loop,coupled to a temperature controlled inlet for analyte volatilization,was developed and tested.Two reactions were chosen for initial characterization:an amine-aldehyde condensation reaction to form an imine product and an isotopic exchange reaction of aβ-ketoester with keto-enol tautomerization.The spectrometer was able to provide kinetic information about the reaction and determine reaction completion.In the future,this system can be extended to detect and quantify impurities and characterize reaction selectivity,in addition to the reaction progress.

Application of Simultaneous Technique of Capillary Zone Electrophoresis Photothermal Interference Spectrometry for Monitoring Chelating Reaction of Light Rare Earth with Tribromoarsenazo

A novel high sensihtity, small-volume photothermal intheence detector has beenintroduced for capillap zone electrophoresis separation analysis. The utility of thes sdriulboconstecheque for momtomp chelating reachon of light rare earth with tribromoarsenazo has beenreported.

DIA-based proteome profiling with PRM verification reveals the involvement of ER-associated protein processing in pollen abortion in Ogura CMS cabbage

Ogura cytoplasmic male sterility(Ogura CMS)is extensively applied in hybrid seed production in cruciferous crops.However,the posttranscriptional molecular basis of Ogura CMS in cruciferous crops remains elusive.Here,a data-independent acquisition-based proteomic approach coupled with a parallel reaction monitoring-based targeted proteomic assay was used to analyze the proteome dynamics of Ogura CMS cabbage line RM and its maintainer line RF during floral bud development to obtain insights into the mechanism underlying Ogura CMS in cruciferous crops.A total of 9162 proteins corresponding to 61464 peptides were identified in RM and RF floral buds.The proteomic fluctuation of RM was weaker than that of RF.Differences in protein expression between RM and RF gradually enlarged with floral bud development.Fifteen continually up-regulated and eight continually down-regulated proteins were found in RM relative to RF throughout floral bud development.Differentially expressed proteins between RM and RF during floral bud development were implicated in the endoplasmic reticulum(ER)-associated protein processing pathway,in which most of them exhibited down-regulated expression in RM.These data suggest that ER-associated protein processing may be involved in pollen abortion in Ogura CMS cabbage by inhibiting the expression of critical factors.Our findings not only deepen the understanding of the molecular mechanisms of Ogura CMS in cruciferous crops but also provide better guidance for applying Ogura CMS in the hybrid breeding of cruciferous crops.

Characterization of Reaction of Primary Amine WithDiketones in Aqueous Solution

In this study,the interaction between primary amine and diketones was investigated.Three diketones with a general structure of—(CH2C(O)CH2C(O))-X-R(X is C,O or N and R is H and/or alkyl groups)were selected to react with primary amine in aqueous solutions.The reaction was in-situ monitored by Raman technique and the reaction products were identified by FTIR,NMR and LC-MS.It is found that the reaction products strongly depend on the structures of diketones.When X is nitrogen,the expected Schiff base or its analog can be obtained.However,Schiff base or its analog is not detected if X is C or O,instead,ion pairs or hydrolysis products are formed accordingly,suggesting critical impacts of acidity of CH2 inβ-diketone on the product formation.This study also shows that in-situ Raman is a powerful technique for reaction monitoring and structure characterization,which is useful for mechanism understanding.

Use of Magic Angle Spinning ~1H NMR Spectroscopy to Monitor Reactions in Solid-Phase Synthesis

Proton NMR-spectra of Wang resin bound compounds were obtained using the magic angle spinning 1HNMR technique with standard equipment. It was possible to analyse the spectra to evaluate their utility in solid-phase chernistry. A typical example was presented, which could directly monitor solid-phase reactions

Proteomics-based identification of proteins in tumor-derived exosomes as candidate biomarkers for colorectal cancer

BACKGROUND Colorectal cancer(CRC)is the second leading cause of cancer-related death,with high morbidity worldwide.There is an urgent need to find reliable diagnostic biomarkers of CRC and explore the underlying molecular mechanisms.Exosomes are involved in intercellular communication and participate in multiple pathological processes,serving as an important part of the tumor microenvironment.AIM To investigate the proteomic characteristics of CRC tumor-derived exosomes and to identify candidate exosomal protein markers for CRC.METHODS In this study,10 patients over 50 years old who were diagnosed with moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma were recruited.We paired CRC tissues and adjacent normal intestinal tissues(>5 cm)to form the experimental and control groups.Purified exosomes were extracted separately from each tissue sample.Data-independent acquisition mass spectrometry was implemented in 8 matched samples of exosomes to explore the proteomic expression profiles,and differentially expressed proteins(DEPs)were screened by bioinformatics analysis.Promising exosomal proteins were verified using parallel reaction monitoring(PRM)analysis in 10 matched exosome samples.RESULTS A total of 1393 proteins were identified in the CRC tissue group,1304 proteins were identified in the adjacent tissue group,and 283 proteins were significantly differentially expressed between them.Enrichment analysis revealed that DEPs were involved in multiple biological processes related to cytoskeleton construction,cell movement and migration,immune response,tumor growth and telomere metabolism,as well as ECM-receptor interaction,focal adhesion and mTOR signaling pathways.Six differentially expressed exosomal proteins(NHP2,OLFM4,TOP1,SAMP,TAGL and TRIM28)were validated by PRM analysis and evaluated by receiver operating characteristic curve(ROC)analysis.The area under the ROC curve was 0.93,0.96,0.97,0.78,0.75,and 0.88(P<0.05)for NHP2,OLFM4,TOP1,SAMP,TAGL,and TRIM28,respectively,indicating their good ability to distinguish CRC tissues from adjacent intestinal tissues.CONCLUSION In our study,comprehensive proteomic profiles were obtained for CRC tissue exosomes.Six exosomal proteins,NHP2,OLFM4,TOP1,SAMP,TAGL and TRIM28,may be promising diagnostic markers and effective therapeutic targets for CRC,but further experimental investigation is needed.

Simultaneous determination of 35 constituents and elucidation of effective constituents in a multi-herb Chinese medicine formula Xiaoer-Feire-Kechuan

Xiaoer-Feire-Kechuan(XFK) is an 11-herb Chinese medicine formula to treat cough and pulmonary inflammation.The complicated composition rendered its chemical analysis and effective-component elucidation.In this study,we combined quantitative analysis and bioactivity test to reveal the antiinflammatory constituents of XFK.First,UPLC-DAD and UHPLC/Q-Orbitrap-MS methods were established and validated to quantify 35 analytes(covering 9 out of 11 herbs) in different XFK formulations.Parallel reaction monitoring mode built in Q-Orbitrap-MS was used to improve the sensitivity and selectivity.Then,anti-inflammatory activities of the 35 analytes were analyzed using in vitro COX-2 inhibition assay.Finally,major analytes forsythosides H,I,A(8-10),and baicalin(15)(total contents varied from 21.79 to 91.20 mg/dose in different formulations) with significant activities(inhibitory rate ≥ 80%) were proposed as the anti-inflammatory constituents of XFK.The present study provided an effective strategy to discover effective constituents of multi-herb formulas.

Homopteran Vector Biomarkers for Efficient Circulative Plant Virus Transmission are Conserved in Multiple Aphid Species and the Whitefly Bemisia tabaci

Plant viruses in the families Luteoviridae and Geminiviridae are phloem restricted and are transmitted in a persistent,circulative manner by homopteran insects.Using fluorescence 2-D difference gel electrophoresis to compare the proteomes of F2 genotypes of Schizaphis graminum segregating for virus transmission ability,we recently discovered a panel of protein biomarkers that predict vector competency.Here we used aphid and whitefly nucleotide and expressed sequence tag database mining to test whether these biomarkers are conserved in other homopteran insects.S.graminum gene homologs that shared a high degree of predicted amino acid identity were discovered in two other aphid species and in the whitefly Bemisia tabaci.Selected reaction monitoring mass spectrometry was used to validate the expression of these biomarkers proteins in multiple aphid vector species.The conservation of these proteins in multiple insect taxa that transmit plant viruses along the circulative transmission pathway creates the opportunity to use these biomarkers to rapidly identify insect populations that are the most efficient vectors and allow them to be targeted for control prior to the spread of virus within a crop.

Clinical Application Analysis of Andrographolide Total Ester Sulfonate Injection,a Traditional Chinese Medicine Licensed in China

Andrographolide total ester sulfonate（ATES） injection is one of the products of traditional Chinese medicine（TCM） currently used against viral infection in China.ATES injection was approved for manufacturing and marketing in January 2002.It is indicated for acute respiratory infections,tonsillitis,chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,influenza,foot and mouth disease,bronchiolitis,herpangina,mumps,infectious mononucleosis and psychosis.However,its usage also carries risk.We investigated the use of ATES at the Wuhan Union Hospital from January 2014 to December 2014 and evaluated its real-world clinical application using the hospital centralized monitoring method.A total of 848 cases were enrolled in this study.In these cases,it was mainly used for postoperative anti-inflammation and treating upper respiratory infection,pneumonia and bronchitis.Among them,39.86% were contraindicated.Irregular medication of adults and children accounted for 1.91% and 23.38%,respectively.Improper choice of solvent accounted for 3.18%.The choice of intravenous drip versus aerosol inhalation was reasonable.A case of adverse events（AEs） was observed in the monitoring period,and the incidence of adverse drug reaction（ADR） of ATES injection was 0.12%.ATES injection in our hospital is relatively safe with a low incidence of adverse reactions.The study assesses the clinical usage and adverse reactions of ATES injection,and provides suggestions for rational use in clinical practice.

Rapid analysis of metal ions and organic compounds in strong acidic solutions by nano-ESI mass spectrometry

Rapid analysis of metal ions and organic compounds in strong acidic solutions is of sustainable interest in multiple disciplines.However,complicated and time-consuming pretreatments are always required for MS analysis of the compounds in strong acidic solutions.Otherwise,it will result in a weak signal and cause serious damage to the mass spectrometer.Herein,a simple method inherited from nano-ESI MS was developed for rapid analysis of strong acidic solutions.Nanoliter(nL)strong acidic solution was first loaded in the nano-ESI emitter,followed by evaporation to remove the H+and leave the analytes on the wall of the nano-ESI emitter.The evaporation process can be completed within 1 min because of the extremely tiny volume(≤1 nL)of the loaded solution.Then,the dried analytes on the wall of the nano-ESI emitter were redissolved by loading a new solvent,followed by nano-ESI MS analysis.By using this method,metal ions and organic compounds in the strong acidic solution can be detected with low sample consumption(1 nL),high speed(<2 min/sample),high sensitivity(limit of detection=0.2µg/L),and high accuracy(>90%).Proof-of-concept applications of the present method have been successfully achieved for the analysis of gastric juice(pH of the sample=1),monitoring reaction catalyzed by strong acid(pH of the system=0),and micro-area analysis of ores(pH of the extraction solvent=0),showing great application potential in multiple fields.

Monitoring the Hydrolysis of p-Nitrophenyl Acetate Catalyzed by Seryl-histidine with Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry

The hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl acetate (p-NPA) catalyzed by seryl-histidine or histidine has been monitored by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry in the presence of the internal calibration, 8-anilino-1-naphthalenesulfonic acid ammonium salt (ANS). The half-life of p-NPA in the presence of 10 mmol·L -1 seryl-histidine or histidine at 25 ℃ was 370 min and 70 min respectively. With the occurrence of acetyl seryl-histidine and acetyl histidine in the reaction, and the fact that p-NPA was stable in the presence of 10 mmol·L -1 serine, an imidazolysis mechanism has been proposed, which is in accordance with the reported work.

“Living”fluorophores:thermo-driven reversible ACQ-AIE transformation and ultra-sensitive in-situ monitor for dynamic Diels-Alder reactions

Organic fluorophores play essential roles in both academic and applied fields.Most of the fluorescent molecules can be divided into aggregation-caused quenching(ACQ)and aggregation-induced emission(AIE)types based on the diverse emission properties in solution and aggregated states.Currently,a large part of studies focuses on the ACQ-to-AIE one-way transformation and the complex synthesis of chemical bonds is inevitable in all existing methods.To maximize the advantages of ACQ and AIE types fluorophores and avoid complex chemosynthesis,we propose a facile strategy first realizing the reversible ACQAIE transformation with the dynamic Diels-Alder(DA)reactions.Besides,the fluorescent platform can monitor DA reactions in microscale ultra-sensitively and quantitively.The dynamic covalent bonds can help to develop novel fluorophores creatively,and the reversible ACQ-AIE platform is expected to offer fresh insights into the dynamic covalent chemistry.

DPHL:A DIA Pan-human Protein Mass Spectrometry Library for Robust Biomarker Discovery

To address the increasing need for detecting and validating protein biomarkers in clinical specimens,mass spectrometry(MS)-based targeted proteomic techniques,including the selected reaction monitoring(SRM),parallel reaction monitoring(PRM),and massively parallel dataindependent acquisition(DIA),have been developed.For optimal performance,they require the fragment ion spectra of targeted peptides as prior knowledge.In this report,we describe a MS pipeline and spectral resource to support targeted proteomics studies for human tissue samples.To build the spectral resource,we integrated common open-source MS computational tools to assemble a freely accessible computational workflow based on Docker.We then applied the workflow to generate DPHL,a comprehensive DIA pan-human library,from 1096 data-dependent acquisition(DDA)MS raw files for 16 types of cancer samples.This extensive spectral resource was then applied to a proteomic study of 17 prostate cancer(PCa)patients.Thereafter,PRM validation was applied to a larger study of 57 PCa patients and the differential expression of three proteins in prostate tumor was validated.As a second application,the DPHL spectral resource was applied to a study consisting of plasma samples from 19 diffuse large B cell lymphoma(DLBCL)patients and 18 healthy control subjects.Differentially expressed proteins between DLBCL patients and healthy control subjects were detected by DIA-MS and confirmed by PRM.These data demonstrate that the DPHL supports DIA and PRM MS pipelines for robust protein biomarker discovery.DPHL is freely accessible at https://www.iprox.org/page/project.html?id=IPX0001400000.

Quantitative Evaluation of Aldo-keto Reductase Expression in Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) Cell Lines

The involvement of aldo-keto reductases （AKRs） in tumorigenesis is widely reported, but their roles in the pathological process are not generally recognized due to inconsistent measure- ments of their expression. To overcome this problem, we simultaneously employed real-time PCR to examine gene expression and multiple reaction monitoring （MRM） of mass spectrometry （MS） to examine the protein expression of AKRs in five different hepatic cell lines. These include one rela- tively normal hepatic cell line, L-02, and four hepatocellular carcinoma （HCC） cell lines, HepG2, HUH7, BEL7402 and SMMC7721. The results of real-time PCR showed that expression of genes encoding the AKR1C family members rather than AKR1A and AKR1B was associated with tumor, and most of genes encoding AKRs were highly expressed in HUH7. Similar observations were obtained through MRM. Different from HUH7, the protein abundance of AKR1A and AKR1B was relatively consistent among the other four hepatic cell lines, while protein expression of AKR1C varied significantly compared to L-02. Therefore, we conclude that the abundant distri- bution of AKR 1C proteins is likely to be associated with liver tumorigenesis, and the AKR expres- sion status in HuH7 is completely different from other liver cancer cell lines. This study, for the first time, provided both overall and quantitative information regarding the expression of AKRs at both mRNA and protein levels in hepatic cell lines. Our observations put the previous use of AKRs as a biomarker into question since it is only consistent with our data from HUH7. Furthermore, the data presented herein demonstrated that quantitative evaluation and comparisons within a protein fam- ily at both mRNA and protein levels were feasible using current techniques.

Quantitative detection of single amino acid polymorphisms by targeted proteomics

Single-nucleotide polymorphisms(SNPs)are recognized as one kind of major genetic variants in population scale.However,polymorphisms at the proteome level in population scale remain elusive.In the present study,we named amino acid variances derived from SNPs within coding regions as single amino acid polymorphisms(SAPs)at the proteome level,and developed a pipeline of nontargeted and targeted proteomics to identify and quantify SAP peptides in human plasma.The absolute concentrations of three selected SAP-peptide pairs among 290 Asian individuals were measured by selected reaction monitoring(SRM)approach,and their associations with both obesity and diabetes were further analyzed.This work revealed that heterozygotes and homozygotes with various SAPs in a population could have different associations with particular traits.In addition,the SRM approach allows us for the first time to separately measure the absolute concentration of each SAP peptide in the heterozygotes,which also shows different associations with particular traits.