• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.959-967
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• 2010

Down syndrome (DS) is an abnormality of the 21st chromosome that commonly occurs in children born to older women. Thus, amniotic fluid (AF) is usually collected from such women for prenatal diagnosis. This study analyzed human AF supernatants (AFS) using a mass spectrometric (MS) approach to search for candidate biomarkers of a DS pregnancy. The AFS were collected from older pregnant women at weeks 16-18 of their gestation by amniocentesis for cytogenetic analysis. The AFS from the pregnancies carrying DS (n=4) or chromosomally normal (n=6) fetuses, as revealed by the cytogenetic analysis, were then subjected to global protein profiling based on liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS). Affinity chromatography was also applied prior to the LC-ESI-MS/MS to minimize the masking effect of highly abundant albumin and immunoglobulin and thereby increase the diversity of the identified proteins. As a result, at least 30 new AFS proteins were identified and 44 AFS proteins were found to be differentially expressed between the DS and normal cases, where 6 of the proteins were unique to the DS cases and 11 were unique to the chromosomally normal cases. In addition, in the DS cases, 19 AFS proteins were downregulated and 8 were upregulated to varying degrees. A Western blot analysis confirmed the LC-ESI-MS/MS data, indicating that the combined detection of apolipoprotein A-II (apoA-II) and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) could be a potential tool for diagnosing DS cases.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.11
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• pp.1523-1531
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• 2012

The metabolite profile of meju during fermentation was analyzed using mass spectrometry techniques, including GC-MS and LC-MS, and the bacterial diversity was characterized. The relative proportions of bacterial strains indicated that lactic acid bacteria, such as Enterococcus faecium and Leuconostoc lactis, were the dominant species. In partial least-squares discriminate analysis (PLS-DA), the componential changes, which depended on fermentation, proceeded gradually in both the GC-MS and LC-MS data sets. During fermentation, lactic acid, amino acids, monosaccharides, sugar alcohols, and isoflavonoid aglycones (daidzein and genistein) increased, whereas citric acid, glucosides, and disaccharides decreased. MS-based metabolite profiling and bacterial diversity characterization of meju demonstrated the changes in metabolites according to the fermentation period and provided a better understanding of the correlation between metabolites and bacterial diversity.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.1377-1380
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• 2010

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.196-200
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• 1989

Some s-triazine herbicides, namely simazine, atrazine, and propazine present as trace components in a complex mixture were analyzed by GC/MS and GC/MS/MS methods. Even though monitoring the molecular ions was the best in terms of sensitivity, adequate analysis could not be done when interfering species were present. When doubly charged ions which appeared at characteristic m/z values were monitored, chromatograms were rather free from interference. More importantly, selected reaction monitoring was found to provide a selective means of detection with general applicability.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.317-322
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• 2015

Simultaneous analytical method has developed for the determination of anion biocides in soil by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Chlorite and chlorate in soil were extracted with pure water, and cyanuric acid and sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate (Na-DBS) were extracted with mobile phase (0.25 mM ammonium formate in 20 mM formic acid : acetonitrile (1:1)). The extract was injected into the LC-MS/MS system after filtration. The method detection limits in this study were 0.04 mg/kg for chlorite, 0.04 mg/kg for chlorate, 0.27 mg/kg for cyanuric acid, and 0.05 mg/kg for Na-DBS, respectively. The method was applied to the analysis of 50 soil samples collected from 40 sites sprayed with biocides and 10 background sites. As a result, anion biocides were not detected in all sites.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.178-185
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• 2023

QuEChERS is used worldwide as a universal sample preparation method with many benefits, such as being quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged and safe. This study examined whether QuEChERS can be employed in isotope dilution mass spectrometry (ID-MS) for accurate analysis of pesticides in food. The ratios of fortified values and measured values of malathion and fenitrothion using the QuEChERS method were compared with those using the solid phase extract (SPE) method which was previously used in this laboratory. The separations of the two pesticides on DB-5MS and VF-1701MS columns were compared. Malathion and fenitrothion were fortified into kimchi cabbage and pretreated with the QuEChERS method and the SPE method. The results obtained using the DB-5MS column varied according to the sample preparation method, column and pesticide level. Using the VF-1701 column, ratios were 98-102% by both QuEChERS and Carb/NH₂ SPE method for all fortification level. Malathion and fenitrothion were fortified into strawberry samples for comparison with kimchi cabbage. The results for the strawberry samples indicated that the ratios were not influenced by the sample preparation methods or GC column. The QuEChERS method could be acceptable in the ID-MS method for pesticide residue analysis in food, however other conditions should be carefully considered for accurate determination, such as the column, amount of analyte and food matrix.

• BMB Reports
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• v.53 no.7
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• pp.349-356
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• 2020

Mass spectrometry (MS) is an ideal tool for analyzing multiple types of (bio)molecular information simultaneously in complex biological systems. In addition, MS provides structural information on targets, and can easily discriminate between true analytes and background. Therefore, imaging mass spectrometry (IMS) enables not only visualization of tissues to give positional information on targets but also allows for molecular analysis of targets by affording the molecular weights. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) MS is particularly effective and is generally used for IMS. However, the requirement for an organic matrix raises several limitations that get in the way of accurate and reliable images and hampers imaging of small molecules such as drugs and their metabolites. To overcome these problems, various organic matrix-free LDI IMS systems have been developed, mostly utilizing nanostructured surfaces and inorganic nanoparticles as an alternative to the organic matrix. This minireview highlights and focuses on the progress in organic matrix-free LDI IMS and briefly discusses the use of other IMS techniques such as desorption electrospray ionization, laser ablation electrospray ionization, and secondary ion mass spectrometry.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.105-114
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• 2020

Background: Exploring the pharmacokinetic (PK) changes of various active components of single herbs and their combinations is necessary to elucidate the compatibility mechanism. However, the lack of chemical standards and low concentrations of multiple active ingredients in the biological matrix restrict PK studies. Methods: A putative multiple reaction monitoring strategy based on liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (LC-MS) was developed to extend the PK scopes of quantification without resorting to the use of chemical standards. First, the compounds studied, including components with available reference standard (ARS) and components lacking reference standard (LRS), were preclassified to several groups according to their chemical structures. Herb decoctions were then subjected to ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry analysis with appropriate collision energy (CE) in MS² mode. Finally, multiple reaction monitoring transitions transformed from MS² of ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry were used for ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry to obtain the mass responses of LRS components. LRS components quantification was further performed by developing an assistive group-dependent semiquantitative method. Results: The developed method was exemplified by the comparative PK process of single herbs Radix Ginseng (RG), Radix Polygala (RP), and their combinations (RG-RP). Significant changes in PK parameters were observed before and after combination. Conclusion: Results indicated that Traditional Chinese Medicine combinations can produce synergistic effects and diminish possible toxic effects, thereby reflecting the advantages of compatibility. The proposed strategy can solve the quantitative problem of LRS and extend the scopes of PK studies.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.53-57
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• 2013

In here, we investigated the quantitative analysis method of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) with liquid chromatography-mass/mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) or gas chromatography-MS. Two ways of clean-up process were investigated for LC-MS/MS instrumental analysis of IAA, but both a simple dilution and hydrophile-lipophile balance (HLB) solid phase extraction (SPE) were not met the optimal recovery rates for quantitative analysis. On the other hand, the clean-up method for GC-MS was finally optimized through HLB-SPE from 250-folds diluted sample and methylation with trimethylsilyl chloride in methanol for 4 h. The limit of detection for methyl ester of IAA and IBA were both 1.4 mg/L, and recovery rates showed 93-107% from the concentrated liquid fertilizer.

• Progress in Superconductivity
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.77-81
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• 2012

With conventional mass spectrometry (MS), ions are separated according to mass/charge (m/z) ratios. We must speculate the z values to obtain the m values. Superconducting tunnel junction (STJ) detectors can solve this problem, and true mass spectrometry becomes possible instead of m/z spectrometry. The STJ detectors were installed in MS instruments with a variety of ion sources. As an example, we report fragmentation analysis of a non-covalent protein complex of hemoglobin.