• Mass Spectrometry Letters
• /
• v.2 no.2
• /
• pp.49-52
• /
• 2011

Competitive binding of $C_{60}$ and $C_{70}$ to meso-substituted porphyrins was studied by mass spectrometry (MS). Electrospray ionization MS was employed to acquire the mass spectra of 1 : 1 porphyrin-fullerene complexes formed in a mixture of mesosubstituted porphyrin and fullerite to determine the ratio of complexes between $C_{60}$ and $C_{70}$. Matrix-free laser desorption ionization MS was used to obtain the mass spectra of fullerite to measure the mole fraction of $C_{60}$ and $C_{70}$. The binding constant ratio ($K_{70}$/$K_{60}$) was determined from the mass spectral data. The difference in standard Gibbs free energy change, ${\Delta}({\Delta}G^o)_{70-60}$, for the competitive binding of $C_{60}$ and $C_{70}$ was calculated from $K_{70}$/$K_{60}$. Of the five porphyrins, tetraphenyl, tetra(4-pyridyl), tetra(4-carboxyphenyl), tetra(3,5-di-tert-butylphenyl), and tetra(pentafluorophenyl) porphyrins, the first three non-bulky porphyrins yield negative values of ${\Delta}({\Delta}G^o)_{70-60}$, whereas the other two bulky porphyrins result in positive values of ${\Delta}({\Delta}G^o)_{70-60}$. This result indicates that $C_{70}$ binding to porphyrin is thermodynamically favored over $C_{60}$ binding in non-bulky porphyrins, but disfavored in bulky ones. It also suggests that the binding mode of $C_{70}$is different between non-bulky and bulky porphyrins, which is in line with previous experimental findings of the "side-on" binding to non-bulky porphyrins and the $C_{60}$-like "end-on" binding to bulky porphyrins.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
• /
• v.12 no.4
• /
• pp.192-199
• /
• 2021

Alpine glaciers harbor a large quantity of bio-labile dissolved organic matter (DOM), which plays a pivotal role in global carbon cycling as glacial-fed streams are headwaters of numerous large rivers. To understand the complexity, origin, and fate of DOM in glaciers and downstream-linked streams and lakes, we elucidated the molecular composition of DOM in two different Tibetan Plateau glaciers, eight glacial-fed streams and five lakes, using an ultrahigh-resolution 15 Tesla Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FT-ICR) mass spectrometer. The compositional changes of the DOM samples revealed that glacier DOM mostly exhibited sulfur-containing organic compounds (CHOS species). We also found that aliphatic formulae contributed more than 50% of the total abundance of assigned molecules in glacier samples, and those compounds were significantly related to CHOS species. The CHO proportions of glacial-fed streams and lakes samples increased with increasing distance from glacial terminals. The relative contribution of terrestrial-derived organics (i.e., lignins and tannins) declined while microbial-originated organics (aliphatics) increased with increasing elevation. This suggested the gradual input of allochthonous materials from non-glacial environment and the degradation of microbe-derived compounds along lower elevations. Alpine glaciers are retreating as a result of climate change and they nourished numerous streams, rivers, and downstream-linked lakes. Therefore, the interpretations of the detailed molecular changes in glacier ice, glacial-fed streams, and alpine lakes on the Tibetan Plateau could provide broad insights for understanding the biogeochemical cycling of glacial DOM and assessing how the nature of DOM impacts fluvial ecosystems.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
• /
• v.38 no.1
• /
• pp.31-42
• /
• 2022

Dissolved organic matter (DOM), which changes according to various factors, is ubiquitously present from natural environments to engineered treatment systems. Only limited information is available regarding the environmental functions of DOM after bulk analyses are only applied for characterization. In this paper, latest DOM analytical techniques are briefly introduced, which include fluorescence excitation-emission matrix with parallel factor analysis (EEM-PARAFAC), size-exclusion chromatography with an organic carbon detector (SEC-OCD), carbon/nitrogen stable-isotope ratio, and Fourier transform-ion cyclotron resonance-mass spectroscopy (FT-ICR-MS). Recent examples of using advanced analyses to interpret the phenomena associated with DOM occurring in natural and engineered systems are presented here. Through EEM-PARAFAC, different components like protein-like, fulvic-like, and humic-like can be identified and tracked individually through the investigated systems. SEC-OCD allows researchers to quantify different size fractions. FT-ICR-MS provides thousands of molecular formulas present in bulk DOM samples. Lastly, carbon/nitrogen stable-isotope ratio offers reasonable tools for tracking the sources in environments. We also discuss the advantages and weakness of the above-mentioned characterizing tools. Specifically, they focus on single environmental factors (different sourced-DOM and interaction of sediment-pore water) or simple changes after individual treatment processes. Through collaboration with the advanced techniques later, they help the researchers to better understand environmental behaviors in aquatic systems and serve as essential tools for addressing various pending problems associated with DOM.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
• /
• 2017.06a
• /
• pp.119-119
• /
• 2017

Growth related to morphological and proteome response under waterlogging stress in sorghum has not yet been elucidated. Understanding how plants respond to waterlogging, the present study was conducted in seedlings leaf of the Nam-pung chal cultivar. Regarding 3-leaf stage of sorghum, stem length and plant height were slightly decreased in the treatments during ten days of waterlogging, and chlorophyll contents were also significantly different from 7 days of waterlogging treatment. The results observed from the present study were considered to be influenced by the waterlogging stress more in the $5^{th}$ leaf stage of the growth period of the sorghum, and as the waterlogging treatment progressed, the waterlogging stress gradually influenced the growth difference between the control and the treatment respectively. Using 2-DE method, a total of 74 differentially expressed protein spots were analyzed using LTQ-FT-ICR MS. Of these proteins, 45 proteins were up-regulated in the treatment group, and 32 proteins were down-regulated. Analysis of LTQ-FI-ICR MS showed that about 50% of the proteins involved in carbohydrate metabolic process, metabolic process, and cellular metabolic compound salvage were affected by stress. Malate dehydrogenase protein and Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase protein related to carbohydrate metabolic process increased the level of protein expression in both 3 and 5-leaf stage under waterlogging stress. The increased abundance of these proteins may play an active role in response to waterlogging stress. These results provide new insights into the morphological alteration and modulation of differentially expressed proteins in sorghum cultivar.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.35 no.7
• /
• pp.2057-2064
• /
• 2014

Thermochemical sulfate reduction (TSR) was conducted in autoclave on the system of crude oil and $MgSO_4$ at different temperatures. Gas chromatography pulsed flame photometric detector (GC-PFPD) was used to detected the composition of organic sulfur compounds in oil phase products. The results of the analysis indicate that with increased temperature, the contents of organic sulfur compounds with high molecular weight and thermal stability, such as benzothiophenes and dibenzothiophenes, gradually became dominated. In order to gain greater insight into the formation and distribution of organic sulphur compounds from TSR, positive ion electrospray Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) was used in detecting the detailed elemental composition and distribution of them. The mass spectra showed that the mass range of sulfur compounds was 200-550 Da. Four sulfur class species, $S_1$, $N_1S_1$, $O_1S_1$ and $O_2S_1$, were assigned in the positive-ion spectrum. Among the identified sulfur compounds, the $S_1$ class species was dominant. The most abundant $S_1$ class species increase associated with the DBE value and carbon number increasing which also indicates the evolution of organic sulfur compounds in TSR is from the labile series to the stable one. In pure blank pyrolysis experiments with crude oil cracking without TSR, different composition and distribution of organic sulfur compounds in oil phase products were seen from mass spectra in order to evaluate their pyrolysis behaviors without $MgSO_4$. FT-IR and XRD were used in analyzing the products of solid phases. Two distinct crystallographic phases MgO and $MgSO_4$ are found to coexist in the products which demonstrated the transformation of inorganic sulfur compounds into organosulfur compounds exist in TSR.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
• /
• v.45 no.1
• /
• pp.88-92
• /
• 2014

Lysimachia foenum-graecum (LF) has been used for home remedy of common cold and headache in China. Foenumoside B from LF has been reported for anti-obesity effects. We used foenumoside B as a marker for content evaluation of different parts of LF. Ethanol extract of LF was used for isolation of foenumoside B and purified further by column chromatography. The structure was identified as foenumoside B by interpretation of spectroscopic analysis, including $^1H$-, $^{13}C$-NMR and FT-ICR-MS. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was used to compare the quantitative level of foenumoside B in different parts of LF. Foenumoside B contents in the leaf, stem, and aerial part showed significant differences. Contents of foenumoside B was detected highly in the leaf extracts. The results would be useful for efficient extraction of foenumoside B in LF.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.21 no.8
• /
• pp.838-845
• /
• 2011

The present work describes the identification, purification, and characterization of bile salt hydrolase (BSH) from Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis. The enzyme was purified to electrophoretic homogeneity by hydrophobic chromatography, ion-exchange chromatography and ultrafiltration. SDS-PAGE analysis of putative BSH and gel filtration revealed that the analyzed protein is presumably a tetramer composed of four monomers each of about 35 kDa. The purified enzyme was analyzed by liquid chromatography coupled to LTQ FT ICR mass spectrometry and unambiguously identified as a bile salt hydrolase from B. animalis. The isoelectric point of the studied protein was estimated to be around pH 4.9. The pH optimum of the purified BSH is between 4.7 to 6.5, and the temperature optimum is around 50oC. The BSH of B. animalis could deconjugate all tested bile salts, with clear preference for glycine-conjugated bile salts over taurine-conjugated forms. Genetic analysis of the bsh showed high similarity to the previously sequenced bsh gene from B. animalis and confirmed the usefulness of bile salt hydrolase as a genetic marker for B. animalis identification.

• Proceedings of the Microbiological Society of Korea Conference
• /
• 2008.05a
• /
• pp.163-163
• /
• 2008

Methylophaga aminisulfidivorans $MP^T$, a restricted facultative marine methylotrophic bacterium, was able to utilize methanol as a sole carbon and energy source, and possessed a methanol dehydrogenase (MDH) that is a key enzyme in the process of methanol oxidation. During purification of MDH, three types of MDH (MDH I, II, and III) were obtained in the cell free extracts from $MP^T$ cells grown on methanol. When analyzed by SDS-PAGE and ESI-FT ICR MS, MDH I was confirmed to consist of two subunits and with molecular masses of ~66 and ~10 kDa, respectively, in a form of ${\alpha}_2{\beta}_2$. While MDH II and MDH III contained an additional ~30 kDa protein, designated ${\gamma}$, in a form of ${\alpha}_2{\beta}_2{\gamma}$ and ${\alpha}_2{\beta}_2{\gamma}_2$, respectively. MDH III showed 1.5.2.0 times higher activity than MDH II, while MDH I remained the lowest activity. Based on these observations and experimental data, it seems that the original MDH conformation is ${\alpha}_2{\beta}_2{\gamma}2$ within $MP^T$ growing on methanol, and subunit ${\gamma}$ keeps MDH in an active form, and/or makes MDH easily bind to the substrate, methanol.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.34 no.5
• /
• pp.1401-1406
• /
• 2013

This study tested the feasibility of observing H/D exchange of intact protein by top-down electron capture dissociation (ECD) mass spectrometry for the investigation of protein structure. Ubiquitin is selected as a model system. Local structural information was obtained from the deuteration levels of c and $z^{\cdot}$ ions generated from ECD. Our results showed that ${\alpha}$-helix region has the lowest deuteration level and the C-terminal fraction containing a highly mobile tail has the highest deuteration level, which correlates well with previous X-Ray and HDX/NMR analyses. We studied site-specific H/D exchange kinetics by monitoring H/D exchange rate of several structural motives of ubiquitin. Two hydrogen bonded ${\beta}$-strands showed similar HDX rates. However, the outer ${\beta}$-strand always has higher deuteration level than the inner ${\beta}$-strand. The HDX rate of the turn structure (residues 8-11) is lower than that of ${\beta}$-strands (residues 1-7 and residues 12-17) it connects. Although isotopic distribution gets broader after H/D exchange which results in a limited number of backbone cleavage sites detected, our results demonstrate that this method can provide valuable detailed structural information of proteins. This approach should also be suitable for the structural investigation of other unknown proteins, protein conformational changes, as well as protein-protein interactions and dynamics.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
• /
• v.12 no.4
• /
• pp.126-130
• /
• 2021

The mass spectrometry (MS) provides the mass-to-charge ratios of atoms, molecules, stable/metastable complexes, and their fragments. I have taken a long journey with MS to address outstanding issues and problems by experiments and theory and gain insights into underlying principles in chemistry. By looking through the mass-to-charge ratio, I have studied thermochemical problems in silicon chemistry, the infrared multiphoton dissociation spectroscopy of organometallic intermediates, unimolecular dissociations of halotoluene radical cations, and the kinetics of association/dissociation of alkali halide triple ions with Lewis bases. Various MS platforms have been used to characterize non-covalent interactions between porphyrins and fullerenes and those between the group IIB ions and trioctylchalcogenides, and to examine the binding of the group IA, IIA and porphyrin ions to G-quadruplex DNA. Recently, I have focused on mass-balanced H/D isotope dipeptide tags for MS-based quantitative proteomics, a simple chemical modification method for MS-based lipase assay, and the kinetics and dynamics of energy-variable collision-induced dissociation of chemically modified peptides. Now, I see an important role of MS in global issues in the post-COVID era, as the society demands high standards for indoor air quality to contain the airborne-pathogen transmission as well as in-situ monitoring and tracking of carbon emissions to reduce global warming.