• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.36-40
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• 2020

Untargeted metabolomics is a useful tool for drug development focusing on novel chemotherapeutic and chemopreventative agents against cancer cells. In recent years, quadrupole time of flight liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (Q-TOF LC/MS)-based untargeted metabolomic approaches have gained importance to evaluate the effect of these agents at the molecular level. The researchers working on cell culture studies still do not apply standardized methodologies on sample preparation for untargeted metabolomics approaches. In this study, the rough and wet lysis techniques performed on MCF-7 breast cancer cells were compared with each other via the Q-TOF LC/MS-based metabolomic approach. The C18 and hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) columns were used for the separation of the metabolites in MCF-7 cell lysates. 505 peaks were detected through the HILIC column and 551 peaks were found through the C18 column for the wet lysis technique. This situation supported by the base peak chromatograms showed that the wet lysis technique allowed us to extract higher number of non-polar metabolites. Almost equal number of metabolites was found for the C18 and HILIC columns (697 peaks for the HILIC column and 695 peaks for the C18 column) when the rough lysis technique was used. However, the intensities of polar metabolites were higher for the rough lysis technique on base peak chromatograms for both the HILIC and C18 columns. Although cell lysis technique, which is the first step in the sample preparation for cell culture studies, does not cause dramatic differences in the number of the detected metabolite peaks, it affects the polar and non-polar metabolite ratio significantly. Therefore, it must be considered carefully especially for in vitro drug development studies.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.78-81
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• 2012

The hydrophobic hydrocarbon chain and the polar sulfate group confer surfactant properties and enable them to be used as anionic surfactants. Anionic surfactants (AS) are known for their adverse impact on environment, particularly on aquatic ecosystem. In the present study a fast, sensitive and selective method for the determination and subsequent quantification of six anionic surfactants was developed using hydrophilic interactive liquid chromatography (HILIC) coupled to a electrospray ionization (ESI) mass spectrometer (MS), in the concentration range 15-20 ${\mu}g/L$. The capability of the method was established using regression analysis and ANOVA. The method performance was evaluated by analyzing real time surface water spiked with 1-dodecyl hydrogen sulfate at 15 ${\mu}g/L$. Combined efficiency of solid phase extraction and MS detection established recovery of 89% in presence of natural matrix. These results point out that HILIC coupled to multistage MS procedures can be a powerful technique for environmental applications concerning the screening of polar contaminants.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.821-827
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• 2014

An isotope dilution liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (ID LC-MS/MS) method has been developed and applied to the determination of arsenobetaine (AsB, ${(CH_3)_3}^+AsCH_2COO^-$) from oyster candidate certified reference material (CRM). The exact matching isotope dilution approach was adopted for accurate determination of AsB using $^{13}C_2$-labeled AsB as an internal standard. Efficiencies of different AsB extraction methods were evaluated using a codfish reference material and a simple sonication method was selected as the method of choice for the certification of the oyster candidate CRM. The hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) combined with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (ESI/MS/MS) in selected reaction monitoring (SRM) mode was optimized for adequate chromatographic retention and robust quantification of AsB from codfish and oyster samples. By analyzing 12 subsamples taken from each 12 bottles systematically selected from the whole oyster CRM batch, the certified value of AsB was determined as $6.60mg{\cdot}kg^{-1}{\pm}0.31mg{\cdot}kg^{-1}$ and it showed excellent between-bottle homogeneity of less than 0.42%, which is represented by relative standard deviation of 12 bottles from the CRM batch. The major source of uncertainty was the certified value of the AsB standard solution.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.89-95
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• 2017

A rapid, sensitive analytical method for glucuronolactone in beverages was developed and validated using hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (HILIC-ESI-MS/MS). To determine the optimum analytical conditions for glucuronolactone, three different kinds of HILIC columns and two mobile phases with different pH values were examined. An amide-bonded stationary phase with a pH 9 acetonitrile-rich mobile phase was the best condition in terms of column retention, ESI-MS/MS response area, and signal-to-noise ratio. After extraction, glucuronolactone was separated through the HILIC amide column and detected by negative ESI-MS/MS in selected reaction monitoring (SRM) mode. Nine energy drinks sold in Korea were spiked with glucuronolactone at a concentration of 5 ng/mL; the Monster $Energy^{TM}$ sample showed the smallest peak area and its signal-to-noise ratio was used for method validation. Good linearity was obtained in the concentration range from 20 to 1500 ng/mL with a correlation coefficient > 0.998. The developed method had a limit of detection (LOD) of 6 ng/mL and a limit of quantitation (LOQ) of 20 ng/mL. The recovery of this method at concentration of 20, 100, 500, and 1000 ng/mL was 96.3%-99.2% with relative standard deviations (RSD) of 1.6%-14.0%. A reproducibility precision assessment at concentration of 100 and 500 ng/mL was carried out among three laboratories. The recovery of that evaluation was 95.1%-102.3% with RSD of 2.7%-7.0%. An analysis of variance indicated that there was no difference between the recovery results of the three laboratories at the 5% significance level. The validated method is applicable to inspecting beverages adulterated with glucuronolactone in Korea.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.10-14
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• 2020

Riboflavin is a water-soluble vitamin, which serves as a precursor to flavin mononucleotide and flavin adenine dinucleotide. This study aimed to develop a simple and rapid liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis for the quantification of riboflavin in the Beagle dog plasma. This method utilized simple protein precipitation with acetonitrile and ¹³C₄, ¹⁵N₂-riboflavin was used as an internal standard (IS). For chromatographic separation, a hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) column was used with gradient elution. The mobile phase consisted of 0.1% (v/v) aqueous formic acid with 10 mM ammonium formate and acetonitrile with 0.1% (v/v) formic acid. Since riboflavin is an endogenous compound, 4% bovine serum albumin in phosphate buffered saline was used as a surrogate matrix to prepare the calibration curve. The quantification limit for riboflavin in the Beagle dog plasma was 5 ng/mL. The method was fully validated for its specificity, sensitivity, accuracy and precision, recovery, and stability according to the US FDA guidance. The developed LC-MS/MS method may be useful for the in vivo pharmacokinetic studies of riboflavin.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.31-37
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• 2015

Phosphorylation upon protein is well known to a key regulator that implicates in modulating many cellular processes like growth, migration, and differentiation. Up to date, grafting of multidimensional separation techniques onto advanced mass spectrometry (MS) has emerged as a promising tool for figuring out the biological functions of phosphorylation in a cell. However, advanced MS-based phosphoproteomics is still challenging, due to its intrinsic issues, i.e., low stoichiometry, less susceptibility in positive ion mode, and low abundance in biological sample. To overcome these bottlenecks, diverse techniques (e.g., SCX, HILIC, ERLIC, IMAC, TiO₂, etc.) are continuously developed for on-/off-line enrichment of phosphorylated protein (or peptide) from biological samples, thereby helping qualitative/quantitative determination of phosphorylated protein and its phosphorylated sites. In this review, we introduce to the overall views of enrichment tools that are universally used to selectively isolate targeted phosphorylated protein (or peptide) from ordinary ones before MS-based phospoproteomic analysis.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.30-36
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• 2018

A quantitation method for free amino acids in human serum was developed using a stepwise-dilution method and a bimodal cation exchange (CEX)/hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC)-tandem mass spectrometry system equipped with an electrospray ionization source (ESI/MS/MS). This method, which was validated using quality control samples, was optimized for enhanced selectivity and sensitivity. Dithiothreitol (DTT) was used as a reducing agent to prevent the oxidation of a serum sample ($50{\mu}L$), which was then subjected to stepwise dilution using 3, 30, and 90 volumes of acetonitrile containing 0.1% formic acid. Chromatographic separation was performed on an Imtakt Intrada Amino Acid column ($50mm{\times}3mm$, $3{\mu}m$) in mixed mode packed with CEX and HILIC ligands embedded in the stationary phase. Underivatized free amino acids were eluted and separated within 10 min. As a result of the validation, the precision and accuracy for the inter- and intraday assays were determined as 2.11-11.51% and 92.82-109.40%, respectively. The lowest limit of quantification (LLOQ) was $0.5-4.0{\mu}g/mL$ and the matrix effect was 80.22-115.93%. The proposed method was successfully applied to the quantitative analysis of free amino acids in human serum.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.612-617
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• 2008

Tetrodotoxin (TTX) analogues were first determined from the liver extracts of puffer fish, Takifugu niphobles, by LC/MS with Hydrophilic Interaction Liquid Chromatography (HILIC). In total, 7 TTX analogues were detected within 20 minutes as follows; 5,6,11-trideoxyTTX (34.0%, 1,029.6 nmol/g), 6,11-dideoxyTTX (29.3%, 887.6 nmol/g), TTX (22.1%, 667.8 nmol/g), 4,9-anhydro-TTX (11.2%, 339.3 nmol/g), 11-deoxyTTX＋5-deoxyTTX (2.6%, 78.6 nmol/g), and 4-epiTTX (0.8%, 23.6 nmol/g). Mouse toxicity of diluted liver extracts showed the highest toxicity at pH 3 (8.7 MU/mL) and decreased, as increasing pH, to 1.4 MU/mL at pH 10. At acidic (pH 5) and neutral conditions (pH 7), mouse toxicity of liver extracts (79 MU/mL) decreased slowly, as increasing temperature from $80^{\circ}C$ to $115^{\circ}C$, and time until 1 hour; in contrast, at the akaline condition (pH 9), the toxicity decreased rapidly to the more than half within 10 minutes. Individual toxicity of the fillet of T. niphobles were between $43.2{\sim}106.7$ MU, and $64{\sim}78%$ of its toxicity was eluted to soup when boiled with 3 volumes of water during 10 minutes.