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A nanostructure-initiator mass spectrometry-based enzyme activity assay.

ABSTRACT: We describe a Nanostructure-Initiator Mass Spectrometry (NIMS) enzymatic (Nimzyme) assay in which enzyme substrates are immobilized on the mass spectrometry surface by using fluorous-phase interactions. This "soft" immobilization allows efficient desorption/ionization while also enabling the use of surface-washing steps to reduce signal suppression from complex biological samples, which results from the preferential retention of the tagged products and reactants. The Nimzyme assay is sensitive to subpicogram levels of enzyme, detects both addition and cleavage reactions (sialyltransferase and galactosidase), is applicable over a wide range of pHs and temperatures, and can measure activity directly from crude cell lysates. The ability of the Nimzyme assay to analyze complex mixtures is illustrated by identifying and directly characterizing beta-1,4-galactosidase activity from a thermophilic microbial community lysate. The optimal enzyme temperature and pH were found to be 65 degrees C and 5.5, respectively, and the activity was inhibited by both phenylethyl-beta-d-thiogalactopyranoside and deoxygalactonojirimycin. Metagenomic analysis of the community suggests that the activity is from an uncultured, unsequenced gamma-proteobacterium. In general, this assay provides an efficient method for detection and characterization of enzymatic activities in complex biological mixtures prior to sequencing or cloning efforts. More generally, this approach may have important applications for screening both enzymatic and inhibitor libraries, constructing and screening glycan microarrays, and complementing fluorous-phase organic synthesis.

SUBMITTER: Northen TR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2268803 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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A nanostructure-initiator mass spectrometry-based enzyme activity assay.

Northen Trent R TR Lee Jinq-Chyi JC Hoang Linh L Raymond Jason J Hwang Der-Ren DR Yannone Steven M SM Wong Chi-Huey CH Siuzdak Gary G

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20080304 10

We describe a Nanostructure-Initiator Mass Spectrometry (NIMS) enzymatic (Nimzyme) assay in which enzyme substrates are immobilized on the mass spectrometry surface by using fluorous-phase interactions. This "soft" immobilization allows efficient desorption/ionization while also enabling the use of surface-washing steps to reduce signal suppression from complex biological samples, which results from the preferential retention of the tagged products and reactants. The Nimzyme assay is sensitive t ...[more]

PMID: 18319341

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Project description:BackgroundProducing valuable fuels and chemicals from lignin is a key factor for making lignocellulosic biomass economically feasible; however, significant roadblocks exist due to our lack of detailed understanding of how lignin is enzymatically depolymerized and of the range of possible lignin fragments that can be produced. Development of suitable enzymatic assays for characterization of putative lignin active enzymes is an important step towards improving our understanding of the catalytic activities of relevant enzymes. Previously, we have successfully built an assay platform based on glycan substrates containing a charged perfluorinated tag and nanostructure-initiator mass spectrometry to study carbohydrate active enzymes, especially various glycosyl hydrolyses. Here, we extend this approach to develop a reliable and rapid assay to study lignin-modifying enzymes.ResultsTwo β-aryl ether bond containing model lignin dimer substrates, designed to be suitable for studying the activities of lignin-modifying enzymes (LMEs) by nanostructure-initiator mass spectrometry (NIMS), were successful synthesized. Small-angle neutron scattering experiments showed that these substrates form micelles in solution. Two LMEs, laccase from the polypore mushroom Trametes versicolor, and manganese peroxidase (MnP) from white rot fungus Nematoloma frowardii, were tested for catalytic activity against the two model substrates. We show that the reaction of laccase and MnP with phenolic substrate yields products that arise from the cleavage of the carbon-carbon single bond between the α-carbon and the adjacent aryl carbon, consistent with the mechanism for producing phenoxy radical as reaction intermediates. Reactions of the nonphenolic substrate with laccase, on the other hand, adopt a different pathway by producing an α-oxidation product; as well as the cleavage of the β-aryl ether bond. No cleavage of the carbon-carbon bond between the α-carbon and the aryl carbon was observed. To facilitate understanding of reaction kinetics, the reaction time course for laccase activity on the phenolic substrate (I) was generated by the simultaneous measurement of all products at different time points of the reaction. Withdrawal of only a small sample aliquot (0.2 μL at each time point) ensured minimum perturbation of the reaction. The time course can help us to understand the enzyme kinetics.ConclusionsA new assay procedure has been developed for studying lignin-modifying enzymes by nanostructure-initiator mass spectrometry. Enzyme assays of a laccase and a MnP on phenolic and nonphenolic β-aryl ether substrates revealed different primary reaction pathways due to the availability of the phenoxy radical intermediates. Our assay provides a wealth of information on bond cleavage events not available using conventional colorimetric assays and can easily be carried out in microliter volumes and the quantitative analysis of product formation and kinetics is rapidly achieved by NIMS. This is the first time that NIMS technology was applied to study the activities of lignin-modifying enzymes. Unlike other previous works, our use of amphiphilic guaiacylglycerol β-O-4 substrate (I) enables the formation of micelles. This approach helps avoid the re-polymerization of the resulting monomeric product. As a result, our assay can clearly demonstrate the degradation pathways of phenolic guaiacylglycerol β-O-4 type of molecules with laccase and MnP.

Project description:BackgroundTissue imaging of treatment-induced metabolic changes is useful for optimizing cancer therapies, but commonly used methods require trade-offs between assay sensitivity and spatial resolution. Nanostructure-Initiator Mass Spectrometry imaging (NIMS) permits quantitative co-localization of drugs and treatment response biomarkers in cells and tissues with relatively high resolution. The present feasibility studies use NIMS to monitor phosphorylation of 3'-deoxy-3'-fluorothymidine (FLT) to FLT-MP in lymphoma cells and solid tumors as an indicator of drug exposure and pharmacodynamic responses.MethodsNIMS analytical sensitivity and spatial resolution were examined in cultured Burkitt's lymphoma cells treated briefly with Rapamycin or FLT. Sample aliquots were dispersed on NIMS surfaces for single cell imaging and metabolic profiling, or extracted in parallel for LC-MS/MS analysis. Docetaxel-induced changes in FLT metabolism were also monitored in tissues and tissue extracts from mice bearing drug-sensitive tumor xenografts. To correct for variations in FLT disposition, the ratio of FLT-MP to FLT was used as a measure of TK1 thymidine kinase activity in NIMS images. TK1 and tumor-specific luciferase were measured in adjacent tissue sections using immuno-fluorescence microscopy.ResultsNIMS and LC-MS/MS yielded consistent results. FLT, FLT-MP, and Rapamycin were readily detected at the single cell level using NIMS. Rapid changes in endogenous metabolism were detected in drug-treated cells, and rapid accumulation of FLT-MP was seen in most, but not all imaged cells. FLT-MP accumulation in xenograft tumors was shown to be sensitive to Docetaxel treatment, and TK1 immunoreactivity co-localized with tumor-specific antigens in xenograft tumors, supporting a role for xenograft-derived TK1 activity in tumor FLT metabolism.ConclusionsNIMS is suitable for monitoring drug exposure and metabolite biotransformation with essentially single cell resolution, and provides new spatial and functional dimensions to studies of cancer metabolism without the need for radiotracers or tissue extraction. These findings should prove useful for in vitro and pre-clinical studies of cancer metabolism, and aid the optimization of metabolism-based cancer therapies and diagnostics.

Dataset Information

A nanostructure-initiator mass spectrometry-based enzyme activity assay.

Publications

A nanostructure-initiator mass spectrometry-based enzyme activity assay.

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