TY - JOUR A1 - Eitzen, L. A1 - Paul, S. A1 - Braun, Ulrike A1 - Altmann, Korinna A1 - Jekel, M. A1 - Ruhl, A. T1 - The challenge in preparing particle suspensions for aquatic microplastic research N2 - The occurrence of small particles consisting of organic polymers, so-called microplastic (MP), in aquatic Environments attracts increasing interest in both public and science. Recent sampling campaigns in surface Waters revealed substantial numbers of particles in the size range from a few micrometers to a few millimeters. In order to validate sample preparation, identification and quantification and to investigate the behavior of MP particles and potential toxic effects on organisms, defined MP model particles are needed. Many studies use spherical compounds that probably behave differently compared to irregularly shaped MP found in environmental samples. However, preparation and handling of MP particles are challenging tasks and have been systematically investigated in the present study. Polystyrene (PS) as a commonly found polymer with a density slightly above that of water was selected as polymer type for milling and fractionation studies. A cryogenic ball mill proved to be practical and effective to produce particles in the size range from 1 to 200 μm. The yield of small particles increased with increasing pre-cooling and milling durations. Depending on the concentration and the size, PS particles do not completely disperse in water and particles partly creep vertically up along glass walls. Stabilized MP suspensions without use of surfactants that might harm organisms are needed for toxicological studies. The stabilization of PS particle suspensions with ozone treatment reduced the wall effect and increased the number of dispersed PS particles but increased the dissolved organic carbon concentration and changed the size Distribution of the particles. KW - Reference material KW - Microplastic PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2018.09.008 SN - 0013-9351 SN - 1096-0953 VL - 168 SP - 490 EP - 495 PB - Elsevier AN - OPUS4-46462 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Becker, Roland A1 - Sporkert, F. A1 - Lô, I. A1 - Baumgartner, M. T1 - The determination of ethyl glucuronide in hair: Experiences from nine consecutive interlaboratory comparison rounds N2 - The increasing request for hair ethyl glucuronide (HEtG) in alcohol consumption monitoring according to cut-off levels set by the Society of Hair Testing (SoHT) has triggered a proficiency testing program based on interlaboratory comparisons (ILC). Here, the outcome of nine consecutive ILC rounds organised by the SoHT on the determination of HEtG between 2011 and 2017 is summarised regarding interlaboratory reproducibility and the influence of procedural variants. Test samples prepared from cut hair (1 mm) with authentic (in-vivo incorporated) and soaked (in-vitro incorporated) HEtG concentrations up to 80 pg/mg were provided for 27–35 participating laboratories. Laboratory results were evaluated according to ISO 5725-5 and provided robust averages and relative reproducibility standard deviations typically between 20 and 35% in reasonable accordance with the prediction of the Horwitz model. Evaluation of results regarding the analytical techniques revealed no significant differences between gas and liquid chromatographic methods In contrast, a detailed evaluation of different sample preparations revealed significantly higher average values in case when pulverised hair is tested compared to cut hair. This observation was reinforced over the different ILC rounds and can be attributed to the increased acceptance and routine of hair pulverisation among laboratories. Further, the reproducibility standard deviations among laboratories performing pulverisation were on average in very good agreement with the prediction of the Horwitz model. Use of sonication showed no effect on the HEtG extraction yield. KW - Ethyl glucuronide KW - Interlaboratory comparison KW - Proficiency testing KW - Society of hair testing KW - Reproducibility KW - Pulverization PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2018.04.025 SN - 0379-0738 SN - 1872-6283 VL - 288 SP - 67 EP - 71 PB - Elsevier AN - OPUS4-44881 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mohsin, G. F. A1 - Schmitt, F.-J. A1 - Kanzler, C. A1 - Epping, J. D. A1 - Flemig, Sabine A1 - Hornemann, A. T1 - Structural characterization of melanoidin formed from D-glucose and L-alanine at different temperatures applying FTIR, NMR, EPR, and MALDI-ToF-MS N2 - The aim of this study was to identify specific chemical bonds and characteristic structures in melanoidins formed from D-glucose and L-alanine between 130 and 200 °C. The results might be used to control the type and amount of melanoidin produced during food processing. For this purpose, complementary techniques, such as FTIR, NMR, EPR, and MALDI-ToF, were employed. At 160 °C color, solubility and UV/Vis absorption change characteristically and consequently, structural transformations could be observed in FTIR and NMR spectra. For example, sharp signals of N-H, C-N, and C-H oscillations in the L-alanine spectrum are prone to inhomogeneous broadening in melanoidins prepared above 150 °C. These changes are caused due to formation of heterogeneous macromolecular structures and occur during condensation reactions that lead to an increasing loss of water from the melanoidins with increasing temperatures. Additionally, MALDI-ToF-MS indicates the polymerization of glyoxal/glyoxylic acid and EPR shows the formation of radical structures. KW - MALDI-ToF-MS KW - Melanoidine KW - Konjugate KW - Lebensmittel KW - MALDI-ToF-MS KW - L-alanine KW - D-glucose KW - Maillard reaction KW - FTIR spectroscopy KW - EPR spectroscopy KW - Melanoidin KW - NMR spectroscopy PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2017.11.115 SN - 0308-8146 VL - 245 SP - 761 EP - 767 PB - Elsevier Science CY - Amsterdam, NL AN - OPUS4-44018 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Abbas, Ioana M. A1 - Vranic, M. A1 - Hoffmann, Holger A1 - El-Khatib, Ahmed H. A1 - Montes-Bayón, M. A1 - Möller, H. M. A1 - Weller, Michael G. T1 - Investigations of the copper peptide hepcidin-25 by LC-MS/MS and NMR (+) N2 - Hepcidin-25 was identified as the main iron regulator in the human body, and it by binds to the sole iron-exporter ferroportin. Studies showed that the N-terminus of hepcidin is responsible for this interaction, the same N-terminus that encompasses a small copper(II)-binding site known as the ATCUN (amino-terminal Cu(II)- and Ni(II)-binding) motif. Interestingly, this copper-binding property is largely ignored in most papers dealing with hepcidin-25. In this context, detailed investigations of the complex formed between hepcidin-25 and copper could reveal insight into its biological role. The present work focuses on metal-bound hepcidin-25 that can be considered the biologically active form. The first part is devoted to the reversed-phase chromatographic separation of copper-bound and copper-free hepcidin-25 achieved by applying basic mobile phases containing 0.1% ammonia. Further, mass spectrometry (tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS), high-resolution mass spectrometry HRMS)) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy were employed to characterize the copper-peptide. Lastly, a three-dimensional (3D)model of hepcidin-25with bound copper(II) is presented. The identification of metal complexes and potential isoforms and isomers, from which the latter usually are left undetected by mass spectrometry, led to the conclusion that complementary analytical methods are needed to characterize a peptide calibrant or reference material comprehensively. Quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance (qNMR), inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), ion-mobility spectrometry (IMS) and chiral amino acid analysis (AAA) should be considered among others. KW - Metalloprotein KW - Peptide KW - Chromatography KW - High pH KW - Mobile phase KW - Metrology KW - Purity KW - Reference material KW - ATCUN KW - Copper KW - Nickel PY - 2018 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-457796 UR - http://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/19/8/2271 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms19082271 SN - 1422-0067 VL - 19 IS - 8 SP - 2271, 1 EP - 16 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-45779 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bernevic, Bogdan A1 - El-Khatib, Ahmed H. A1 - Jakubowski, Norbert A1 - Weller, Michael G. T1 - Online immunocapture ICP‑MS for the determination of the metalloprotein ceruloplasmin in human serum N2 - The human copper-protein ceruloplasmin (Cp) is the major copper-containing protein in the human body. The accurate determination of Cp is mandatory for the reliable diagnosis of several diseases. However, the analysis of Cp has proven to be difficult. The aim of our work was a proof of concept for the determination of a metalloprotein-based on online immunocapture ICP-MS. The immuno-affinity step is responsible for the enrichment and isolation of the analyte from serum, whereas the compound-independent quantitation with ICP-MS delivers the sensitivity, precision, and large dynamic range. Off-line ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) was used in parallel to confirm the elution profile of the analyte with a structure-selective method. The total protein elution was observed with the 32S mass trace. The ICP-MS signals were normalized on a 59Co signal. The human copper-protein Cp could be selectively determined. This was shown with pure Cp and with a sample of human serum. The good correlation with off-line ELISA shows that Cp could be captured and eluted selectively from the anti-Cp affinity column and subsequently determined by the copper signal of ICP-MS. KW - ELISA KW - Affinity chromatography KW - Affinity extraction KW - IgY KW - Chicken antibodies KW - Immunoaffinity extraction KW - Copper KW - Diagnostics PY - 2018 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-446157 UR - https://bmcresnotes.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13104-018-3324-7 UR - https://static-content.springer.com/esm/art%3A10.1186%2Fs13104-018-3324-7/MediaObjects/13104_2018_3324_MOESM1_ESM.pdf UR - https://static-content.springer.com/esm/art%3A10.1186%2Fs13104-018-3324-7/MediaObjects/13104_2018_3324_MOESM2_ESM.pdf DO - https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-018-3324-7 SN - 1756-0500 VL - 11 IS - 1 SP - Article 213, 1 EP - 5 PB - Springer Nature CY - Heidelberg AN - OPUS4-44615 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Remmler, Dario A1 - Schwaar, Timm A1 - Pickhardt, M. A1 - Donth, C. A1 - Mandelkow, E. A1 - Weller, Michael G. A1 - Börner, H. T1 - On the way to precision formulation additives: 2D-screening to select solubilizers with tailored host and release capabilities N2 - A 2-dimensional high-throughput screening method is presented to select peptide sequences from large peptide libraries for precision formulation additives, having a high capacity to specifically host a drug of interest and provide tailored drug release properties. The identified sequences are conjugated with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) to obtain peptide-PEG conjugates that proved to be valuable as solubilizers for small organic molecule drugs to overcome limitations of poor water-solubility and low bio-availability. The 2D-screening method selects peptide sequences on both (i) high loading capacities and (ii) preferred drug-release capabilities as demonstrated on an experimental Tau-protein aggregation inhibitor/Tau- deaggregator with potentials for an anti-Alzheimer disease drug (BB17). To enable 2D-screening, a one-bead one-compound (OBOC) peptide library was immobilized on a glass slide, allocating individual beads to permanent positions. While the first screening step involved incubation of the supported OBOC library with BB17 to identify beads with high drug binding capacities by fluorescence scanner readouts, the second step reveals release properties of the high capacity binders by incubation with blood plasma protein model solutions. Efficiently peptides with high BB17 capacities and either keeper or medium or fast releaser properties can be identified by direct sequence readouts from the glass slide supported resin beads via matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry. Four peptides are synthesized as peptide-PEG solubilizers representing strong, medium, weak releasers and non-binders. Loading capacities reached up to 1:3.4 (mol drug per mol carrier) and release kinetics (fast/medium/slow) are in agreement with the selection process as investigated by fluorescence anisotropy and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy. The ability of BB17/conjugate complexes to inhibit the aggregation of Tau4RDΔK (four repeat Tau ((M)Q244-E372 with deletion of K280), 129 residues) in N2a cells is studied by a Tau-pelleting assay showing the modulation of cellular Tau aggregation. Promising effects such as the reduction of 55% of total Tau load are observed for the strong releaser additive. Studies of in vitro Thioflavin S Tau-aggregation assays show half-maximal inhibitory activities (IC50 values) of BB17/conjugates in the low micro-molar range. KW - Block copolymer KW - Drug transporters KW - Peptide library screening KW - Formulation additives PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jconrel.2018.06.032 SN - 0168-3659 SN - 1873-4995 VL - 285 SP - 96 EP - 105 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-45483 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Abbas, Ioana M. A1 - Hoffmann, Holger A1 - Montes-Bayón, M. A1 - Weller, Michael G. T1 - Improved LC-MS/MS method for the quantification of hepcidin-25 in clinical samples N2 - Mass spectrometry-based methods play a crucial role in the quantification of the main iron metabolism regulator hepcidin by singling out the bioactive 25-residue peptide from the other naturally occurring N-truncated isoforms (hepcidin-20, -22, -24), which seem to be inactive in iron homeostasis. However, several difficulties arise in the MS analysis of hepcidin due to the sticky character of the peptide and the lack of suitable standards. Here, we propose the use of amino- and fluoro-silanized autosampler vials to reduce hepcidin interaction to laboratory glassware surfaces after testing several types of vials for the preparation of stock solutions and serum samples for isotope dilution liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (ID-LC-MS/MS). Furthermore, we have investigated two sample preparation strategies and two chromatographic separation conditions with the aim of developing an LC-MS/MS method for the sensitive and reliable quantification of hepcidin-25 in serum samples. A chromatographic separation based on usual acidic mobile phases was compared with a novel approach involving the separation of hepcidin-25 with solvents at high pH containing 0.1% of ammonia. Both methods were applied to clinical samples in an intra-laboratory comparison of two LC-MS/MS methods using the same hepcidin-25 calibrators with good correlation of the results. Finally, we recommend an LC-MS/MS-based quantification method with a dynamic range of 0.5–40 μg/L for the assessment of hepcidin-25 in human serum that uses TFA-based mobile phases and silanized glass vials. KW - HPLC KW - Liquid chromatography KW - Mass spectrometry KW - Silanization KW - Mobile phase KW - Adsorption KW - Peptide losses KW - Recovery KW - Validation KW - Quality control KW - QC KW - Iron disorders KW - Chronic kidney disease KW - Metrology KW - Round robin exercise KW - Basic solvent KW - Peptide analysis PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-018-1056-0 SN - 1618-2642 SN - 1618-2650 VL - 410 IS - 16 SP - 3835 EP - 3846 PB - Springer Nature CY - Heidelberg AN - OPUS4-45053 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mekonnen, Tessema Fenta A1 - Panne, Ulrich A1 - Koch, Matthias T1 - Prediction of biotransformation products of the fungicide fluopyram by electrochemistry coupled online to liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and comparison with in vitro microsomal assays N2 - Biotransformation processes of fluopyram (FLP), a new succinate dehydrogenase inhibitor (SDHI) fungicide, were investigated by electrochemistry (EC) coupled online to liquid chromatography (LC) and electrospray mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). Oxidative phase I metabolite production was achieved using an electrochemical flow-through cell equipped with a boron doped diamond (BDD) electrode. Structural elucidation and prediction of oxidative metabolism pathways were assured by retention time, isotopic patterns, fragmentation, and accurate mass measurements using EC/LC/MS, LC-MS/MS, and/or high resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS). The results obtained by EC were compared with conventional in vitro studies by incubating FLP with rat and human liver microsomes (RLM, HLM). Known phase I metabolites of FLP (benzamide, benzoic acid, 7-hydroxyl, 8-hydroxyl, 7,8-dihydroxyl FLP, lactam FLP, pyridyl acetic acid, and Z/E-olefin FLP) were successfully simulated by EC/LC/MS. New metabolites including an imide, hydroxyl lactam, and 7-hydroxyl pyridyl acetic acid oxidative metabolites were predicted for the first time in our study using EC/LC/MS and liver microsomes. We found oxidation by dechlorination to be one of the major metabolism mechanisms of FLP. Thus, our results revealed that EC/LC/MS-based metabolic elucidation was more advantageous on time and cost of analysis and enabled matrix-free detection with valuable information about the mechanisms and intermediates of metabolism processes. KW - Metabolism KW - EC/LC/MS KW - Electrochemical oxidation KW - Biotransformation KW - SDHI-fungicide PY - 2018 UR - https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00216-018-0933-x#citeas DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-018-0933-x SN - 1618-2650 SN - 1618-2642 VL - 410 IS - 10 SP - 2607 EP - 2617 PB - Springer CY - Heidelberg AN - OPUS4-44491 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Phukphatthanachai, Pranee A1 - Panne, Ulrich A1 - Jakubowski, Norbert A1 - Vogl, Jochen T1 - SI-traceable quantification of sulphur in copper metal and its alloys by ICP-IDMS N2 - Previously applied methods for the quantification of sulphur in copper and other pure metals revealed a lack of SI-traceability and additionally showed inconsistent results, when different methods were compared. Therefore, a reference procedure is required which allows SI-traceable values accompanied by a Sound uncertainty budget. In this study a procedure was developed for the quantification of total sulphur in copper at low concentration levels using inductively coupled plasma-isotope dilution mass spectrometry (ICP-IDMS). The major part of the copper matrix was separated by adding ammonia which forms a complex with the copper while releasing the sulphur followed by chromatographic separation using a weak cation resin. After that the sulphur fraction was further purified by chromatographic means using first an anion exchange method and second a chelating resin. The developed procedure shows high performance, especially concerning high efficiency in matrix removal (>99.999%) while keeping the recovery of sulphur above 80%. Procedure blanks are in the order of 3–53 ng resulting in LOD and LOQ values of 0.2 mg g1 and 0.54 mg g1, respectively. The procedure is sufficient to facilitate value assignment of the total sulphur mass fraction in reference materials. Additionally, relative measurement uncertainties were calculated to be below 1% and the measurement results were traceable to the SI. The procedure reported in this study is a new reference procedure for sulphur measurement in copper, being fit for two major purposes, certification of reference materials and assignment of reference values for inter-laboratory comparison. KW - Traceability KW - Measuremment uncertainty KW - Isotope dilution mass spectrometry KW - Reference measurements PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/c7ja00338b SN - 0267-9477 SN - 1364-5544 VL - 33 IS - 1 SP - 90 EP - 101 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - Cambridge, UK AN - OPUS4-43614 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Loehr, Konrad A1 - Jakubowski, Norbert A1 - Wanka, Antje Jutta A1 - Traub, Heike A1 - Panne, Ulrich T1 - Quantification of metals in single cells by LA-ICP-MS comparison of single spot analysis and imaging N2 - LA-ICP-MS is increasingly used for single cell analysis in two different detection modes using either the imaging mode with subcellular resolution or alternatively single spot analysis of cells with a larger laser spot size. This study compares the analytical figures of merit of both detection modes (signal to noise, precision, accuracy, throughput), as well as ease of operation and data evaluation. Adherent 3T3 fibroblast cells were stained with two metal dyes (mDOTA-Ho, Ir-DNA-intercalator) and several dozen cells were measured using both modes. We found a ten times higher throughput for single spot analysis, which has as well a straightforward data analysis, shortening the total analysis time further. The signal to noise ratio for single spot analysis was found to be slightly better compared to the signal to noise of pixels in imaging. The mean metal intensity per single cell differed by only 10% between both modes and obtained distributions were found to show no statistically significant differences. Using matrix matched calibration based on standards spotted onto nitrocellulose membrane, we achieved detection limits (10 σ) of 12 fg for Ir and 30 fg for Ho and quantified 57 ± 35 fg Ir and 1,192 ± 707 fg Ho per single cell. Compared to a conventional ICP-MS measurement of a digest of ~60,000 cells, 54 % of Ir content and 358 % Ho content was found using quantitative LA-ICP-MS. The difference might be a consequence of the two metal dyes binding to different structures of the cell and therefore might behave differently in sample preparation for conventional and LA-ICP-MS. KW - Single cell analysis KW - LA-ICP-MS PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/c8ja00191j SN - 0267-9477 SN - 1364-5544 VL - 33 IS - 9 SP - 1579 EP - 1587 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry AN - OPUS4-45903 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -