• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.17-23
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• 2018

Studies on the interactions of amyloidogenic proteins with trace metals, such as copper, have indicated that the metal ions perform a critical function in the early oligomerization process. Herein, we investigate the effects of Cu(II) ions on the active sequence regions of amyloidogenic proteins using electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) and collision induced dissociation tandem MS (CID-MS/MS). We chose three amyloidogenic peptides NNQQNY, LYQLEN, and VQIVYK from yeast prion like protein Sup35, insulin chain A, and tau protein, respectively. [Cu-peptide] complexes for all three peptides were observed in the mass spectra. The mass spectra also show that increasing Cu(II) concentrations decrease the population of existing peptide oligomers. The tandem mass spectrum of NNQQNY shows preferential binding for the N-terminal region. All three peptides are likely to appear to be in a Cu-monomer-monomer (Cu-M-M) structure instead of a monomer-Cu-monomer (M-Cu-M) structure.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.141-146
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• 2023

Liraglutide is a medication prescribed for the management of type 2 diabetes and chronic obesity. A simple, sensitive, and selective liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method was developed and validated for the quantitative analysis of liraglutide in rat plasma. After a simple protein precipitation step, liraglutide was chromatographically separated using the ACQUITY Premier Peptide BEH C18 Column with mobile phases comprising 50% acetonitrile and 50% methanol, and water with 0.3% FA. Positive ion electrospray ionization in multiple reaction monitoring mode was used to achieve detection. Good linearity was observed in the 5-600 ng/mL concentration range (R² > 0.99). Liraglutide had intra- and inter-day precision values of 2.13%-9.86% and 4.14%-8.36%, respectively. The accuracy ranged from -2.36% to 2.58%. The recovery and matrix effect were within acceptable limits. This selective LC-MS/MS method was used to study the pharmacokinetic properties of liraglutide after subcutaneous administration in rats.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.43-46
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• 2012

In this study, comprehensive two dimension gas chromatography (2D GC-MS) and 15 T Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (15T FT-ICR MS) connected to atmospheric pressure photo ionization (APPI) have been combined to obtain detailed chemical composition of a diesel oil sample. With 2D GC-MS, compounds with aliphatic alkyl, saturated cyclic ring(s), and one aromatic ring structures were mainly identified. Sensitivity toward aromatic compounds with more than two aromatic rings was low with 2D GC-MS. In contrast, aromatic compounds containing up to four benzene rings were identified by APPI FT-ICR MS. Relatively smaller abundance of cyclic ring compounds were found but no aliphatic alkyl compounds were observed by APPI FT-ICR MS. The data presented in this study clearly shows that 2D GC-MS and 15T FT-ICR MS provides different aspect of an oil sample and hence they have to be considered as complementary techniques to each other for more complete understanding of oil samples.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.177-183
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• 2022

The monomer and dimer structures of the amyloid fragment Aβ(1-16) sequence formed in H₂O were investigated using electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (MS) and tandem MS (MS/MS). Aβ16 monomers and dimers were indicated by signals representing multiple proton adduct forms, [monomer+zH]ⁿ⁺ (=M^z+, z = charge state) and [dimer+zH]^z+ (=D^z+), in the MS spectrum. Fragment ions of monomers and dimers were observed using collision-induced dissociation MS/MS. Peptide bond dissociation was mostly observed in the D1-D7 and V11-K16 regions of the MS/MS spectra for the monomer (or dimer), regardless of the monomer (or dimer) charge state. Both covalent and non-covalent bond dissociation processes were indicated by the MS/MS results for the dimers. During the non-covalent bond dissociation process, the D³⁺ dimer complex was separated into two components: the M¹⁺ and M²⁺ subunits. During the covalent bond dissociation of the D³⁺ dimer complex, the b and y fragment ions attached to the monomer, (M+b_10-15)^z+ and (M+y_9-15)^z+, were thought to originate from the dissociation of the M²⁺ monomer component of the (M¹⁺+M²⁺) complex. Two different D³⁺ complex geometries exist; two distinguished interaction geometries resulting from interactions between the M¹⁺ monomer and two different regions of M²⁺ (the N-terminus and C-terminus) are proposed. Intricate fragmentation patterns were observed in the MS/MS spectrum of the D⁵⁺ complex. The complicated nature of the MS/MS spectrum is attributable to the coexistence of two D⁵⁺ configurations, (M¹⁺+M⁴⁺) and (M²⁺M³⁺), in the Aβ16 solution.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.44-47
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• 2017

Isothiazolinone derivatives are widely used in consumer products as disinfectants or preservatives, but there are growing concerns about their impact on human health. Therefore, rapid screening of these biocides is very important for proper control and regulation of potentially hazardous substances. To this end, low-temperature plasma (LTP) ionization mass spectrometry (MS) was investigated to demonstrate its potential for direct and selective analysis of isothiazolinones from sprayed aerosol samples. Benzisothiazolinone (BIT) was clearly identified from a commercial fabric deodorant using LTP ionization MS and MS/MS. LTP allowed selective ionization of BIT directly from the simply sprayed aerosol sample and illustrated its potential for fast screening without sample pre-treatments. Selective nature of LTP ionization, on the other hands, implicates use of LTP ionization MS as a general screening method for specific groups of hazardous chemicals in commercial products.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.65-70
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• 2020

Despite its great success in the field of proteomics, mass spectrometry has limited use for determining structural details of peptides, proteins, and their assemblies. Emerging ion mobility spectrometry-mass spectrometry has enabled us to explore the conformational space of protein ions in the gas phase, and further combinations with the gas-phase ion spectroscopy and the collision-induced unfolding have extended its abilities to elucidating the secondary structure and local details of conformational transitions. This review will provide a brief introduction to the combined approaches of IMS-MS with gas-phase ion infrared spectroscopy or collision-induced unfolding and their most recent results that successfully revealed higher-order structural details.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.23 no.8
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• pp.1097-1102
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• 2002

The mass spectrometry using an ion trap tandem mass spectrometer has been investigated to find optimum conditions for the analysis of benzo(a)pyrene (3,4-benzpyrene). The applicability to a real soil sample was also investigated to verify the usef ulness of the MS/MS (or collision induced dissociation, CID) analysis. The optimum CID condition was 1.5 and 0.45 for the RF excitation voltage and the q value, respectively. For comparison, CID and EI were applied to the analysis of a soil sample. CID analysis was more sensitive than EI analysis of the soil sample. The limit of detection (LOD) of benzo(a)pyrene was 3.18 ng mL-1 and 0.85 ng mL,-1 for EI and MS/MS analysis, respectively. The precision at the soil sample for EI and CID showed relative standard deviations of 6.1% and 4.1%, respectively, and the concentrations were 168 ㎍ kg-1 and 162 ㎍ kg-1 , respectively.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.179-185
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• 2021

Collision-induced dissociation (CID) combined with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) was used to obtain structural information on rat islet amyloid polypeptide (rIAPP) monomers (M) and dimers (D) observed in the multiply charged state in the MS spectrum. MS/MS analysis indicated that the rIAPP monomers adopt distinct structures depending on the molecular ion charge state. Peptide bond dissociation between L₂₇ and P₂₈ was observed in the MS/MS spectra of rIAPP monomers, regardless of the monomer molecular ion charge state. MS/MS analysis of the dimers indicated that D⁵⁺ comprised M²⁺ and M³⁺ subunits, and that the peptide bond dissociation process between the L₂₇ and P₂₈ residues of the monomer subunit was also maintained. The observation of (M+ b₂₇)⁴⁺ and (M+ y₁₀)³⁺ fragment ions were deduced to originate from the two different D⁵⁺ complex geometries, the N-terminal and C-terminal interaction geometries, respectively. The fragmentation pattern of the [M_rIAPP + M_hIAPP]⁵⁺ MS/MS spectrum showed that the interaction occurred between the two N-terminal regions of M_rIAPP and M_hIAPP in the heterogeneous dimer (hetero-dimer) D⁵⁺ structure.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.575-578
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• 2005

Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI MS) was used, along with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), to monitor Paal-Knorr synthesis of 2,5-dimethyl-1-phenylpyrrole by condensation of aniline with 2,5-hexanedione. In addition to 2,5-dimethyl-1-phenylpyrrole observed as a single spot by TLC, unexpected dimer size compounds were observed by GC-MS. Dimers and trimers were observed by ESI MS. ESI tandem mass spectrometry was used to select plausible structures for the dimer. ESI MS with or without liquid chromatographic separation is useful for observing oligomeric byproducts with low volatility produced in organic reactions.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.117-122
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• 2019

This study demonstrated the sensitivity of electron capture dissociation mass spectrometry (ECD-MS) to probe subtle conformational changes in gaseous melittin ions induced by the substitution of an amino acid. ECD-MS was performed for triply and quadruply-protonated melittin and its variants obtained by a single amino acid substitution, namely, D-Pro14, Pro14Ala, and Leu13Ala. Although native triply-protonted melittin showed only a few peptide backbone cleavage products, the D-Pro14 and Pro14Ala variants exhibited extensive backbone fragments, suggesting the occurrence of a significant structural or conformational change induced by a single amino acid substitution at Pro14. On the contrary, the substitution at Leu13, namely Leu13Ala (+3), did not cause significant changes in the ECD backbone fragmentation pattern. Thus, the sensitivity of ECD-MS is demonstrated to be good enough to probe the aforementioned conformational change in melittin.