Noncovalent interactions are involved in many biological processes in which biomolecules bind specifically and reversibly to a partner. Often, proteins do not have a biological activity without the presence of a partner, a ligand. Biological signals are produced when proteins interact with other proteins, peptides, oligonucleotides, nucleic acids, lipids, metal ions, polysaccharides or small organic molecules. Some key steps in the drug discovery process are based on noncovalent interactions. We have focused our research on the steps involving ligand screening, competitive binding and ‘off-target’ binding. The first paper in this thesis investigated the complicated electrospray ionization process with regards to noncovalent complexes. We have proposed a model that may explain how the equilibrium between a protein and ligand changes during the droplet evaporation/ionization process. The second paper describes an evaluation of an automated chip-based nano-ESI platform for ligand screening. The technique was compared with a previously reported method based on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and excellent correlation was obtained between the results obtained with the two methods. As a general conclusion we believe that the automated nano-ESI/MS should have a great potential to serve as a complementary screening method to conventional HTS. Alternatively, it could be used as a first screening method in an early phase of drug development programs when only small amounts of purified targets are available. In the third article, the advantage of using on-line microdialysis as a tool for enhanced resolution and sensitivity during detection of noncovalent interactions and competitive binding studies by ESI-MS was demonstrated. The microdialysis device was improved and a new approach for competitive binding studies was developed. The last article in the thesis reports studies of noncovalent interactions by means of nanoelectrospray ionization mass spectrometry (nanoESI-MS) for determination of the specific binding of selected drug candidates to HSA. Two drug candidates and two known binders to HSA were analyzed using a competitive approach. The drugs were incubated with the target protein followed by addition of site-specific probes, one at a time. The drug candidates showed predominant affinity to site I (warfarin site). Naproxen and glyburide showed affinity to both sites I and II. / QC 20100705

The scientific progress about the important chemotherapeutic drug substance cisplatin (CDDP) and its function has often been rendered by data difficult to interpret, and still many questions about its mode of action remains to be clarified by the scientific community. However, studies of CDDP possess a high complexity due to; i) low intracellular concentration, ii) many potential biomolecule targets, iii) poor or unknown stability of the intact drug and its biomolecule adducts and iv) complex and varying sample matrices. Metallomic studies, using advanced analytical techniques may contribute to clarify the interactions between CDDP and intracellular biomolecules. For a successful outcome sample preparation conditions as well as separation and detection techniques must be carefully selected and optimized to achieve accurate results and correct interpretation of data.         This thesis describes some new and improved analytical methodologies for characterizing the Pt metallome in CDDP-exposed malignant cells. The developed methods are based on powerful liquid chromatography (LC) methods hyphenated to sensitive detection by inductively coupled plasma- (ICP) and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESIMS). Consideration has also been taken about sample preparation conditions.         By selecting “chemically inert” sample preparation (cell lysis by osmosis) and separation (using only nonreactive or no additatives) conditions we could avoid the formation of platinum artifact compounds previously described in the literature (Paper I and II). Using oxygen containing organic solvents with high boiling points (dimethylformamide; DMF, 1,4-dioxane, n-propanol and ethanol) as alternatives to acetonitrile in the LC separations, significant improvements were achieved in ICPMS sensitivity and robustness. When evaluated in combination with chromatographic performance and ESIMS detection the overall best performance was achieved with n-propanol (Paper II, III and IV). From the studies in Paper II we could show that free intact CDDP can be found in malignant cells, as supporting evidence for passive or endocytotic uptake of the drug and further estimate a half-life for intracellular CDDP to about 15 minutes. Such data has not been shown before. In Paper V, the above improved LC methods were used to demonstrate differences in the platinum and cupper metallome from sensitive and resistant T289 melanoma cells exposed to CDDP at near clinical levels.         In a wider perspective we have shown the potential of using hydrophilic liquid interaction chromatography (HILIC) hyphenated to ICPMS detection as a general approach for analysis of hydrophilic metallo-compounds (Paper II). Taking advantage of the superior ICPMS performance using n-propanol gradients for reversed phase liquid chromatography (RPLC) possess a true alternative and /or complimentary technique to size exclusion chromatography (SEC) commonly applied within metallomic studies of biomolecules (Paper V). Using n-propanol in HILIC as well as in RPLC enables parallel detection by ICP- and ESIMS using only one set of chromatographic parameters (Paper III and IV), something commonly called for by scientists in the field.

In this thesis, new methods that address some current limitations in nanoelectrospray mass spectrometry (nESI-MS) analysis are presented. One of the major objectives is the potential gain in sensitivity that can be obtained when employing the proposed techniques. In the first part of this thesis, a new emitter, based on the generation of electrospray from a spray orifice with variable size, is presented. Electrospray is generated from an open gap between the edges of two individually mounted, pointed tips. The fabrication and evaluation of two different types of such emitters is presented; an ESI emitter fabricated from polyethylene terephtalate (Paper I), and a high-precision silicon device (Paper II). Both emitters were surface-treated in a selective way for an improved wetting of the gap and to confine the sample solution into the gap. In the second part of this thesis, different methods for improved sensitivity of nESI-MS analysis have been developed. In Paper III, a method for nESI-MS analysis from discrete sample volumes down to 1.5 nL is presented, using commercially available nESI needles. When analyzing attomole amounts of analyte in such a small volume of sample, an increased sensitivity was obtained, compared to when analyzing equal amounts in conventional nESI-MS analysis. To be able to analyze smaller sample volumes, needles with a narrower orifice and a higher flow resistance were needed. This triggered the development of a new method for fabrication of fused silica nESI needles (Paper IV). The fabrication is based on melting of a fused silica capillary by means of a rotating plasma, prior to pulling the capillary into a fine tip. Using the described technique, needles with sub-micrometer orifices could be fabricated. Such needles enabled the analysis of sample volumes down to 275 pL, and a further improvement of the sensitivity was obtained. In a final project (Paper V), nESI-MS was used to study the aggregation behavior of Aβ peptides, related to Alzheimer’s disease. An immunoprecipitation followed by nESI-MS was employed. This technique was also utilized to study the selectivity of the antibodies utilized. / QC 20101112

Performing quantitative analysis of targeted bioactive compounds in biological samples, such as blood plasma, cerebrospinal fluid or extracts from pig liver, put high demands on the ruggedness of the method acquiring the results. In addition to the complexity of the sample matrix, the bioactive compounds targeted for analysis usually have low levels of natural abundance, further increasing the demand on the analytical method sensitivity. Furthermore, quantitation of analytes at trace levels in the presence of large amounts of interfering species in biofluids must aim for repeatable precision, high accuracy ensuring the closeness to the true values, a linear response spanning over several orders of magnitude and low limits of quantitation to be valid for monitoring disease states in clinical analysis. An analytical method most commonly follow a certain order of events, called the analytical chain, which includes; experimental planning, sampling, sample pre-treatment, separation of species, detection, evaluation, interpretation and validation, all equally important for the outcome of the results. In this thesis, the scope has been to create novel methods, or to refine already existing methods, in order to achieve even better performances of the different events in the analytical chain. One of the aspects has been to sample and enrich analytes in vivo by the use of solid supported microdialysis, giving the advantage of almost real-time monitoring of analyte levels within a living host with targeted selectivity due to the analyte affinity for solid particles. Another aspect to selectively clean and enrich analytes in a complex matrix has been developed and automated on-line by the use of a column-switching technique before the analytical separation. By using several steps of extraction and separation coupled on-line to selected detection by the use of a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer facilitates great selectivity of species. The mass spectrometer also gives the ability to distinguish between isotopically labelled analogues coeluting with the analytes yielding the necessary accuracy for quantitative evaluation. Both development of analytical methods and clinical applications has been performed, as well as improvements of existing techniques, all to improve the quantitation of trace levels of targeted analytes in biofluids.

Infrared multiple photon dissociation (IRMPD) spectroscopy has been coupled with electronic structure calculations in order to elucidate the structures of several small biological molecules including: uracil, 5-fluorouracil, 5-fluorocytosine, ferulic acid, and a number of their related analogs. IRMPD is a powerful technique, that when combined with electronic structure calculations can provide convincing evidence for the structural characterization of ions in the gas phase. Isomers of uracil and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) have been characterized by calculations performed at the MP2(full)/aug-cc-pVTZ level of theory; however, infrared multiple photon dissociation spectroscopy experiments proved to be unsuccessful for these species. Geometry optimization and frequency calculations have isolated the dominant isomer(s) for neutral and deprotonated uracil and 5-fluorouracil, along with several cluster interactions involving water, methanol, ammonia, and methylamine. For both uracil and 5-FU, a single relevant neutral isomer was determined, with each isomer existing in the diketo, as opposed to the enol form. Following the deprotonation of this neutral isomer, both uracil and 5-FU were permitted to form anionic cluster ions with water, methanol, ammonia, or methylamine, and based on the relative Gibbs free energies (298 K) of the calculated isomers, relevant cluster interactions were determined. For each cluster, several sites of intramolecular interaction were found to exist; however, interaction at the site of deprotonation was the most favourable in every instance. Ionic hydrogen bond interactions have been found in several clusters formed by 5-fluorocytosine (5-FC). The chloride and trimethylammonium cluster ions, in addition to the cationic and anionic dimers have been characterized by infrared multiple photon dissociation (IRMPD) spectroscopy and electronic structure calculations performed at the B2PLYP/aug-cc-pVTZ//B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) level of theory. IRMPD spectra in combination with calculated spectra and relative energetics have indicated, quite conclusively, that a single isomer for each 5-FC cluster that is likely being observed experimentally except in the case of the anionic dimer, in which a combination of isomers is probable. For the 5-FC-trimethylammonium cluster specifically, the calculated spectrum of the lowest energy isomer matches the experimental spectrum remarkably well. Interestingly, the cationic dimer of 5-FC was found to have a single energetically relevant isomer (Cationic-IV) in which a unique tridentate ionic hydrogen bond interaction is formed. The three sites of intramolecular ionic hydrogen bonds in this isomer interact very efficiently, leading to a significantly large calculated enthalpy of binding of 180 kJ/mol. The magnitude of the calculated binding energy for this species, in combination with the strong correlation between the simulated and IRMPD spectra, indicates that the tridentate-bound dimer is observed predominantly in experiment. Comparison of the calculated relative Gibbs free energies (298 K) for this species with several of the other isomers considered also supports the likelihood of the dominant protonated dimer existing as Cationic-IV. Protonated ferulic acid has been characterized using infrared multiple photon dissociation spectroscopy and electronic structure calculations at the B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) level of theory. Neutral ferulic acid has been determined to undergo protonation on the carbonyl oxygen of the acid group, forming an ion of m/z 195. Due to its extensively conjugated structure, protonated ferulic acid (m/z 195) is observed to yield three stable fragment ions in IRMPD experiments. It is proposed that two parallel fragmentation pathways of protonated ferulic acid are being observed. First, proton transfer occurs from the carbonyl oxygen to the hydroxyl oxygen within the acid group, resulting in the loss of water and subsequently carbon monoxide, forming ions of m/z 177 and 149, respectively. The second proposed fragmentation pathway undergoes proton transfer from the phenolic group to the methoxy group resulting in loss of methanol and rearrangement to a five-membered ring of m/z 163. IRMPD spectra have been obtained for the ions m/z 195 and m/z 177, and anharmonic calculations have been performed on these species at the B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) level of theory. The calculated anharmonic spectra for these ions match the experimental spectrum exceptionally well and strongly support the proposed fragmentation mechanisms.

Ambient mass spectrometry (MS) is a new and growing sub-field in MS which has opened new research avenues, particularly for applications relating to the analysis of solid samples. Results on the implementation and application of ambient MS techniques including: desorption electrospray ionization (DESI) and direct analysis in real time (DART) indicated that these techniques could serve as complementary tools for the rapid qualitative screening of pharmaceuticals, allowing up to two orders of magnitude improvement in throughput compared to traditional methods such as liquid chromatography MS. The selectivity of DESI could be enhanced by performing the experiment in the reactive mode. In this mode, complexation reactions between reagents added to the spray solvent and analytes on the sample surface resulted in analyte stabilization, inhibiting fragmentation. They also resulted in a concomitant enhancement in the analyte surface activity, facilitating their evaporation from secondary droplets culminating in an improvement in sensitivity. Also for drug tablets analysis, the analyte signal dependency on DESI geometrical set-up variables could be mitigated following the careful and controlled addition of an isotopically labeled internal standard (IS) to the sample or by spraying samples with a pair of reagents with different affinities for the analyte. Either of these approaches resulted in an analyte-to-IS signal ratio (in the former) or an analyte complex ratio (in the later), which was largely independent of DESI experimental variables allowing quantitative analysis using this technique. DESI MS was also observed to be a very powerful tool for determining the 2-D distribution of various pharmaceutically important compounds on tablet and tissue surfaces. The ability to map the distribution of molecules of interest by DESI MS has very great implications in drug tablet quality control and in determining the role of chemical signals presented on tissue surfaces. DESI was observed to be limited to ionizing molecules of medium to high polarities without much limitation in terms of mass range, whereas DART was better suited for the analysis of molecules within a broader range of polarities, but within a more limited mass range (up to 800 Da approximately). These limitations were circumvented by implementing a novel multimode ambient ion source, desorption electrospray/metastable-induced ionization (DEMI), which combines various aspects of DESI and DART. Initial experiments with the DEMI ion source demonstrated its ability to enable the simultaneous analysis of molecules within a broader range of polarities and masses than DESI and DART alone.

Elucidation of the primary structure of peptides and proteins de novo by mass spectrometry (MS) has become possible with the advent of tandem MS methods. The most widely used chemical method due to Edman (Edman & Begg, 1967) has shortcomings with regard to N- terminal blocked peptides, cyclic peptides and posttranslational modifications, for example phosphorylation (Metzger, 1994). However, mass spectrometric sequencing methods are increasingly becoming applicable for a variety of peptides and proteins, including N- and C- termini modified peptides and cyclic peptides (Jegorov et al., 2003; Sabareesh & Balaram, 2006; Sabareesh et al., 2007). Further, conventional and tandem mass spectrometry have proven useful in the detection of post-translational modifications (Hansson et al., 2004; Nair et al., 2006; Mandal et al., 2007). This thesis details mass spectrometric sequencing of acyclic and cyclic peptides, involving tandem MS methods carried out using both electrospray ionization (ESI) ion trap (Esquire 3000 plus, Bruker Daltonics) and matrix assisted laser desorption and ionization time-of-flight/time-of-flight (MALDI TOF/TOF) (Ultraflex TOF/TOF, Bruker Daltonics) instruments. The peptides are either chemically synthesized or isolated from diverse natural sources. Synthetically designed peptides possessing modified N- and C- termini and peptaibols from the soil fungus Trichoderma constitute the acyclic peptides. The cyclic peptides include backbone cyclized depsipeptides from the fungus Isaria and disulfide bonded peptides from the venom of marine cone snails. Chapter 1 gives an account of various concepts of mass spectrometry, tandem mass spectrometry and peptide fragmentation chemistry, providing necessary background information for the following chapters. Chapter 2 describes the fragmentation studies of [M + H]+ and [M + Na]+ adducts of six neutral peptides with blocked N- and C- termini investigated using an electrospray ion trap mass spectrometer. The N- terminus of these synthetically designed peptides is blocked with a tertiarybutyloxycarbonyl (Boc) group and the C- terminus is esterified. These peptides do not possess sidechains that are capable of complexation and hence the backbone amide units are the sole sites of protonation and metallation. The cleavage pattern of protonated adducts is strikingly different from that of sodium adducts. While the loss of the N- terminal blocking group happens quite readily in the case of MS/MS of [M + Na]+, the cleavage of C- terminal methoxy group seems to be a facile process in the case of MS/MS of [M + H]+. Fragmentation of the protonated adducts yields only bn ions, while yn and an type ions are predominantly formed from the fragmentation of sodium adducts. The an ions arising from the fragmentation of [M + Na]+ lack the N-terminal Boc group (termed as an*). MS/MS of [M + Na]+ species also yields bn ions of substantial lower intensities, that lack the N- terminal Boc group (bn*). Comparison of the fragmentation of [M + H]+ with [M + Na]+ of the peptides chosen in this study reveal that the combined use of both protonated and sodium adducts should prove useful in de novo sequencing of peptides that possess modified N- and C- termini, particularly naturally occurring neutral peptides, for example, peptaibols. Chapter 3 describes about the ESI-MS/MS investigation of an HPLC fraction from the soil fungus Trichoderma, which aided in identification of microheterogeneous trichotoxin peptaibols in that fraction. Dramatic differences were noted between the fragmentation spectra of [M + H]+ and [M + Na]+ species. While b-type ions were noted from the former, the latter yielded a-, b-and y- type ions (the same feature was noted in the cases presented in the previous chapter). Inspection of the isotope pattern of b-ions yielded from the dissociation of H+ species, clearly revealed the presence of three microheterogeneous trichotoxin sequences; two isobars (1718 Da), each possessing one Glu residue and another completely neutral peptide (1717 Da). The microheterogeneity is due to Gly ↔ Ala, Iva ↔ Aib and Gln ↔ Glu replacements and exchanges (Iva: DIva: R-Isovaline; Aib: α-aminoisobutyric acid). The MS/MS of [M + Na]+ adduct predominantly yielded product ions from the neutral peptaibol. Further, the fragmentation patterns of H+ and Na+ adducts of two N-acetyl peptide esters were found to be very similar to that of the neutral peptaibol component. The results presented in this chapter establish that under the electrospray ion trap conditions, the fragmentation patterns of the H+ and Na+ adducts of model peptides that possess modified N- (Boc and acetyl) and C- termini are indeed very similar to that of the neutral trichotoxin. Chapter 4 delineates the applicability of liquid chromatography coupled to conventional and tandem electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS, LC-ESI-MS/MS, LC-ESI-MS3) for the screening of novel cyclic hexadepsipeptide metabolites directly from the crude hyphal extract of the fungus Isaria. The fungal strain was grown on a solid medium (potato carrot agar), which yields aerial hyphae growing erect from the basal mycelial colony (Ravindra et al., 2004). A total of ten microheterogeneous components were identified to belong to the isariin class of cyclodepsipeptides from the LC-ESI-MS and LC-ESI-MS/MS analysis of the crude hyphal extract. Out of ten, six are determined to be new and the remaining four are previously reported isariins A-D. The primary structures of isariins A-D were from the fungi Isaria cretacea and Isaria felina (Vining & Taber 1962; Deffieux et al., 1981) and the fungal strain used in this study resembles Isaria felina (Sabareesh et al., 2007). Isariins are backbone cyclized hexadepsipeptides composed of a D-β-hydroxy acid possessing a hydrocarbon sidechain and five α-amino acids; one of the α-amino acids is a D-amino acid (Vining & Taber 1962; Deffieux et al., 1981). The detection of fragment ions due to loss of CO concomitant with the loss of H2O from the protonated precursor ion ([M + H]+) ascertained the cyclic depsipeptide nature of both the known and the new components. The fragmentation behavior of the [M + H]+ of known isariins facilitated sequence determination of the new components. Therefore, the configuration of the amino acids and the β-hydroxy acid of the new components is assumed to be same as that of the reported peptides. The microheterogeneity of the ten sequences is due to changes in the D-β-hydroxy acid (residue 1) and the adjoining α-amino acid (residue 6), whose carbonyl is linked to the hydroxyl function by an ester linkage. The number of methylene units ((-CH2)n) in the hydrocarbon sidechain of the residue 1 differs between 2 and 8 and the variability of the residue 6 is limited to Ala/Val. The ester oxygen atom was chosen as the preferable site of protonation causing ring-opening, based on the observed distribution of the fragment ions. Chapter 5 demonstrates the utility of the LC-ESI-MS and LC-ESI-MS/MS methods in the identification and characterization of six microheterogeneous backbone cyclized hexadepsipeptides, isaridins, directly from the crude hyphal extract of the fungus Isaria. Among the six components, four were found to be novel. The other two peptides, isaridins A and B were identified earlier from this laboratory (Ravindra et al., 2004). The isaridins are characterized by the presence of unusual amino acids such as N-methylated residues, β-methylproline (β-MePro) and hydroxyleucine (HyLeu) (Ravindra et al., 2004). The cyclic nature of both the known and the new peptides were confirmed from the observation of peaks due to loss of CO and H2O from the protonated precursor ion ([M + H]+). However, unlike isariins (Chapter 4), the intensity of the peak corresponding to [M + H - H2O]+ was noted to be of very low intensity, in the case of isaridins. Detection of product ion peak due to [M + H - CO2]+ suggests an additional dissociation pathway involving cleavage at the depsipeptide linkage and is supportive of the cyclic depsipeptide nature (Eckart, 1994). The sequencing of the newly detected components was enabled by understanding the fragmentation mechanism of the known isaridins. The tertiary amide nitrogens of the N-methylated residues were regarded as the preferable sites of protonation leading to ring-opening, as noted from the fragmentation spectra. The microheterogeneity in the sequences was identified using the diagnostic product ions obtained from the protonated precursor of the known isaridins. The microheterogeneity can be attributed to the variations of two residues; Pro ↔ β-MePro and N-MePhe ↔ N-MeLxx (Lxx: Leu, Ile, alloIle). The recently reported ‘isarfelins’ from the fungus Isaria felina (Guo et al., 2005) were reassigned as ‘isaridins’. The reassignment was based on very similar fragmentation profiles observed for the [M + Na]+ adduct of isaridins and isarfelins; further, the fungal strain used in this study resembles Isaria felina (Sabareesh et al., 2007). Chapter 6 presents mass spectrometric sequencing of disulfide bonded peptides from marine cone snails (conopeptides), using the MALDI LIFT MS/MS method. Lo959, a single disulfide bonded octapeptide isolated from Conus loroisii, was identified to belong to the class of contryphans (Sabareesh et al., 2006). Contryphans are small single disulfide bonded conopeptides, whose length is in the range of 7-11 residues and are rich in tryptophan. A significant feature of the contryphans is the presence of conserved DTrp (DW) at the 3rd residue within the disulfide loop (Sabareesh et al., 2006). Lo959 displays an unusual behavior under reverse phase chromatographic conditions, typical of the DW containing contryphans (Jacobsen et al., 1998). It undergoes slow conformational interconversion on the chromatographic time scale exhibiting two distinct peaks. The presence of DW at the 4th position in Lo959 was established by comparing the chromatographic profiles of natural peptide with that of two chemically synthesized peptides, one containing LW (4) and another possessing DW (4). De novo sequencing of the two peptides Ar1446 and Ar1430 from Conus araneosus established that they belonged to M-superfamily of conotoxins, in particular m-2 branch. M-superfamily conotoxins are three-disulfide bonded peptides characterized by the consensus cysteine framework, CC…C…C…CC (Corpuz et al., 2005). Ar1446 and Ar1430 are fourteen residue long peptides, each possessing three disulfide bonds. The peptides have the cysteine scaffold typical of the M-superfamily, as shown above. Specifically, the peptides belong to m-2 branch of M-superfamily, where the fourth and fifth cysteines are separated by two residues (Corpuz et al., 2005). The sequences of the peptides were derived following chemical and enzymatic modifications. The carboxamidomethylation reaction established the presence of three disulfide bonds. Indeed, the sequences were deduced from the MALDI LIFT MS/MS of [M + H]+ of the tryptic peptides. The sequences of the two peptides are almost identical and they differ only at residue 12; hydroxyproline in Ar1446, proline in Ar1430.

As agrarian society developed, the most fertile soils able to sustain the nutritional requirements needed for high crop yield were assigned to farming, while the more penurious soils were left to uphold the forest ecosystems. Some temperate forests are developed on acidic soils considered to be nutrient poor, as much of the inorganic nutrients are entrapped in poorly weatherable soil minerals and not easily accessed by plant roots. In an undisturbed ecosystem, the largest contribution of available nutrients comes from the recycling of organically bound nutrients via the decomposition of dead plant material. If biomass is removed, for instance with a more intensified exploitation of the forest ecosystems including whole tree harvesting, this source of nutrients is consequently decreased. The importance of soil mineral weathering as a source of nutrients, and especially that promoted by soil biota, is thereby emphasized. This thesis addresses biotic parameters associated with mineral weathering. Different aspects of soil solution sampling strategies and analysis of different organic ligands as well as biomarkers for the estimation of fungal biomass were investigated. These chemical parameters were also evaluated as indicators of microbial activity in relation to mineral nutrient availability in soil. With the assumption that the current nutrient status of a soil will affect the microbial interest of certain minerals as sources of inorganic nutrients, a mineral amendment trial was performed in a Swedish boreal forest soil. Overall, the amended soil presented good nutrient status, but with a possible shortage of iron. Due to this, it was hypothesized that the amended mineral with the highest iron content i.e. biotite would cause an elevation of microbial activity in its vicinity when compared to the bulk soil. The level of microbial activity in the vicinity of the amended minerals was evaluated via quantification of organic acids and siderophores, as well as estimation of fungal biomass and enzymatic activity. The highest microbial activity was measured for the O horizon of the investigated podzol, although nothing indicated an elevated association with the amended minerals. In the E horizon, however, elevation in microbial activity was observed in the vicinity of the biotite mineral when compared with bulk soil, although only a few of the investigated parameters differed significantly when evaluated separately.   To enable this study, a highly sensitive analytical method employing liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry was developed to quantify a number of hydroxamate siderophores. On-line pre-concentration enabled detection of these organic ligands in the pico-molar range – a necessity when analyzing natural samples. Furthermore, an analytical method was developed for the estimation of fungal biomass via quantification of chitin-derived glucosamine, which also employed liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry. Unlike currently available methods, the one presented in this thesis did not involve analyte derivatization, which resulted in high sample throughput while simultaneously avoiding complications involved with the additional derivatization procedure. The distribution of a group of organic ligands known as aromatic low molecular mass organic acids was also studied in a boreal forest podzol soil. Different sampling and samples preparation techniques, namely tension-lysimeters, soil centrifugation and liquid-soil extraction, were compared when analyzing soil solution components. Significant differences in analyte amount and species type were found between these sampling techniques. Some of the differences could be accounted for by variation in soil composition at different depths of the investigated podzol, but others could be attributed to structural differences within the studied analyte group. This clearly illustrated the intricacy of sampling and analysis when working with a sample matrix as complex and diverse as soil. As previously, liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry was used to quantify the analytes of interest. A highly sensitive analytical method was developed that was able to detect eleven aromatic low molecular mass organic acids in the nano-molar range. High selectivity was ensured by applying multiple reaction monitoring enabled by collision induced fragmentation of the analytes. / FORE

Many anticancer therapies are based on the interaction of small molecule drugs with nucleic acids, particularly DNA. Electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry has established itself as an irreplaceable tool for the characterization of DNA adducts produced by alkylating agents, carcinogens, and antitumor drugs, in addition to the characterization of nucleic acid post-transcriptional modifications. ESI-MS was used to assess the non-covalent binding of a novel series of intercalating anthrapyrazoles to duplexes containing different sequences. Relative binding affinities paralleled the shift in melting point of the DNA duplexes measured from a previous study. Upon collisionally induced dissociation of the duplex/anthrapyrazole complexes, different binding strengths were discerned based on the fragmentation patterns. In addition, the interactions of a new series of sulfur-containing acridine ligands, some that functioned as alklyating mustards, with duplex DNA were also evaluated. Non-covalent and covalent binding of each ligand was determined, and the site of adduction (G > A) was revealed for the covalent modifications. The distribution of cross-linked products and mono-adducts by psoralen analogs was also monitored by both LC-UV and IRMPD-MS methods. Reactions at 5’-TA sites were favored over 5’-AT sites. The sites of interstrand cross-linking were determined by fragmentation of the duplex/psoralen complexes by infrared multiphoton dissociation (IRMPD). Ultraviolet photodissociation (UVPD) at 193 nm caused efficient charge reduction of deprotonated oligodeoxynucleotides via electron detachment. Subsequent CID of the charge-reduced oligodeoxynucleotides formed upon electron detachment, in a net process called electron photodetachment dissociation (EPD), resulted in a diverse array of abundant sequence ions which allowed the modification site(s) of three modified oligodeoxynucleotides to be pinpointed to a more specific location than by conventional CID. Electron transfer dissociation (ETD) caused efficient charge reduction of multi-protonated oligonucleotides. Subsequent CAD of the charge-reduced oligonucleotides formed upon electron transfer, in a net process termed electron transfer collision activated dissociation (ETcaD), resulted in rich backbone fragmentation, with a marked decrease in the abundance of base loss ions and internal fragments. ETcaD of an oligonucleotide duplex resulted in specific backbone cleavages, with conservation of weaker non-covalent bonds. In addition, IRMPD and UVPD were used to activate charge-reduced oligonucleotides formed upon electron transfer. ET-IRMPD afforded tunable characterization of the modified DNA and RNA, allowing for modified bases to be directly analyzed. ET-UVPD promoted higher energy backbone fragmentation pathways and created the most diverse MS/MS spectra. The numerous products generated by the hybrid MS/MS techniques (ETcaD, ET-IRMPD, and ET-UVPD) resulted in specific and extensive backbone cleavages which allowed for the modification sites of multiple oligonucleotides to be pinpointed. / text

The analysis of large intact proteins and complex biological samples containing drug molecules is a common complicated task for many scientists. However, due to the importance of these molecules, there is a growing interest in pharmaceutical and medicinal research to develop rapid, highly sensitive and efficient analytical techniques. The advantages of capillary electrophoresis (CE) in combination with mass spectrometry (MS) provide a powerful analytical tool. However, further improvement and development of these techniques are required to extend their utility and to meet the challenges of selected analytes. Thus, the scope of this thesis deals with the development of novel analytical methods to achieve efficient and high performance analysis of peptides, intact proteins, digests of complex samples and basic pharmaceutical drug compounds in biological matrices. Implementation of CE for routine analysis of proteins and complex samples is constrained by the partial adsorption to the capillary wall. Consequently, the use of surface modified capillaries is required to control the surface properties and prevent analyte adsorption. In this thesis, analyte adsorption was successfully prevented using tailored covalent cationic (M7C4I) and electrostatic cationic (PVPy-Me) coatings. Rapid and efficient separations of peptides, proteins and digests of complex samples such as cerebrospinal fluids were obtained with these coatings. The M7C4I coating showed a distinct ability to handle large intact proteins with a molecular size of over 0.5 MDa. The highest peak efficiencies and surprisingly high peak stacking effects were obtained by adding salts to the protein samples. The effect of salt additives on peak efficiencies of intact proteins was further demonstrated and compared using different surface modified capillaries. Additionally, rapid CE-ESI-MS quantification of pharmaceutical drug molecules in human plasma was performed after a SCX-SPE sample preparation method using the M7C4I coating. In conclusion, the results presented in this thesis show the strong potential of CE in combination with MS using electrospray ionization (ESI) for the analysis of peptides and large intact proteins and the applicability for clinical monitoring of the levels of pharmaceutical drug molecules in human plasma with high sensitivity and efficiency. / Felaktigt tryckt som Digital Comprehensive Summaries of Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Science and Technology 734