Amino acids sample preparation

Six to eight standard dilutions in an appropriate concentration range for each amino acid are prepared 2 ml of amino acid solution and 2 ml of buffered ninhydrin are mixed in a test tube, heated in a boiling water bath for 15 min, cooled to room temperature, and 3 ml of 50% ethanol added. The extinction is read at 570 nm (or 440 nm for proline) after 10 min. Standard plots of concentration versus absorbance are drawn for each amino acid. The scraped layer corresponding to each spot is extracted with 70% ethanol in a known minimum volume, and ninhydrin reaction is performed followed by spectrophotometry. The concentration of unknown samples is read from the standard plots. TLC/den-sitometry was used to determine 0.5 mg/L of phenylalanine in blood serum as an indicator of phenylketonuria (181). 

Spectrometric Analysis. Remarkable developments ia mass spectrometry (ms) and nuclear magnetic resonance methods (nmr), eg, secondary ion mass spectrometry (sims), plasma desorption (pd), thermospray (tsp), two or three dimensional nmr, high resolution nmr of soHds, give useful stmcture analysis information (131). Because nmr analysis of or N-labeled amino acids enables determiaation of amino acids without isolation from organic samples, and without destroyiag the sample, amino acid metaboHsm can be dynamically analy2ed (132). Proteia metaboHsm and biosynthesis of many important metaboUtes have been studied by this method. Preparative methods for labeled compounds have been reviewed (133). 

The nitration of 6-methoxyquinoxaline in concentrated sulfuric acid at 0°C gives 6-methoxy-5-nitroquinoxaline. The position of the nitro group is confirmed by reduction of the product to 5-amino-6-methoxy-quinoxaline identical with a sample prepared from 2,3,4-triamino-anisole and glyoxal ... 

Sulfoxides without amino or carboxyl groups have also been resolved. Compound 3 was separated into enantiomers via salt formation between the phosphonic acid group and quinine . Separation of these diastereomeric salts was achieved by fractional crystallization from acetone. Upon passage through an acidic ion exchange column, each salt was converted to the free acid 3. Finally, the tetra-ammonium salt of each enantiomer of 3 was methylated with methyl iodide to give sulfoxide 4. The levorotatory enantiomer was shown to be completely optically pure by the use of chiral shift reagents and by comparison with a sample prepared by stereospecific synthesis (see Section II.B.l). The dextrorotatory enantiomer was found to be 70% optically pure. 

A general feature of optimum sample preparation is that maximum recovery of the analyte is observed. Consider a graph of recovery vs. variation in one experimental condition. Figure 5 shows such a graph, with temperature as the experimental variable. The curve exhibits a maximum and a decline on either side of the maximum. The assay will be most reproducible at the point of zero slope, i.e., at the maximum recovery, because small variations in conditions will not affect the result. In hydrolysis of a protein to its constituent amino acids, for example, it will be found that at very high temperatures or long hydrolysis times, degradation of the product amino acids occurs, while at low temperatures or short hydrolysis times, the protein... 

With the increased popularity of LC-MS, the problem of overlapping enantiomer peaks from other amino acids has largely been resolved. The mass spectrometer can act as an additional dimension of separation (based on mass to charge ratio). Thus, only amino acids having the same mass-to-charge ratio must be separated achirally (see Desai and Armstrong, 2004). This additional dimension of separation also has implications for the applications in the matrices discussed previously. With the ability of the mass spectrometer to discriminate on the basis of mass, this lessens the need for complete achiral separation. For example, an LC-MS method was recently developed to study the pharmacokinetics of theanine enantiomers in rat plasma and urine without an achiral separation before the enantiomeric separation (Desai et al., 2005). In such matrices, proteins must still be removed by appropriate sample preparation. 

Chemical manganese dioxide (CMD). This form of Mn02 is used for batteries it is available from I. C. Sample office (Cleveland, Ohio, 44101). Shioiri et al. report it is superior to commercial activated Mn02 (Aldrich) and more convenient than freshly prepared activated Mn02 for dehydrogenation of 2-(l-ami-noalkyl)thiazolidine-4-carboxylic acids to the corresponding thiazoles (thiazole amino acids). 

PITC has been used extensively in the sequencing of peptides and proteins and reactions under alkaline conditions with both primary and secondary amino acids. The methods of sample preparation and derivatization follow a stringent procedure which involves many labour-intensive stages. However, the resulting phenylthio-carbamyl-amino acids (PTC-AA s) are very stable, and the timing of the derivatization step is not as critical as when using OPA. 

The three-dimensional X-ray structure of the enzyme [19] reveals that several Thr residues occur in both the NADH cofactor and substrate binding sites (Fig. 21.5 A see p. 463). A Met residue (Metl7) is also present at the interface between the cofactor NADH and a substrate analog pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylate (PDC) (Fig. 21.5 A). Therefore, we prepared a sample of DHPR that was selectively labeled in these amino acid residues as follows 13C /1H Met, 13C /1H lie, 13C/1H Thr and uniformly 2H-labeled elsewhere ([MIT]-DHPR). This labeling can be achieved by supplementing the media with appropriate commercially available labeled amino acids, 12C/2H-labeled glucose and DzO [20] (see also the caption to Fig. 21.5 for details). 

The formation of DNP or dansyl amino acid derivatives followed by chromatography or electrophoresis is a useful technique in certain circumstances. The preparation of DNP derivatives may be indicated when the sample for analysis contains a variety of other substances, removal of which would be complicated, leading possibly to considerable analytical errors. However, the derivative formation and extraction is time consuming and itself can introduce inaccuracies into the analysis and should be used only when it offers an advantage over the separation of untreated amino acids. 

The prepared sample may be applied in pH 2.2 buffer directly to the top of the column and the analysis sequence started, and after elution of all the amino acids and regeneration of the resin column, the next sample can be applied. However, many newer models incorporate an automatic loading device which enables several samples to be stored ready for analysis either in sample cups or in small Teflon coils. After the completion of an analysis the next stored sample is automatically applied to the resin and the buffer cycle restarted. 

The word protein describes only one type of polymer involving mainly a-amino acids and yet it includes many thousands of different molecules. It is possible to measure the total protein content of a sample despite the fact that relatively simple preparative techniques may be capable of demonstrating the presence of different proteins. However, if interest lies in only one of these proteins, then a measure of the total protein content would be completely inappropriate. Methods for the quantitation of proteins are either suitable for all proteins or designed to measure individual proteins. Such specific methods may depend on either a preparative stage in the analysis or the use of a specific characteristic of the protein in question. 

The Western blot method is often used in the analysis of host cell impurities. It can be used to identify a recurring impurity. O Keefe et al. used a Western blot to identify an E. coli protein impurity in the preparation of the recombinant fibroblast growth factor (aFGF).29 By using specific antisera to the E. coli host cell proteins, they were able to isolate the impurity and determine its N-terminus amino acid sequence to confirm its identity. Antibodies could be used to determine the concentration of this impurity in sample preparations. 

The applicability of cinchonan carbamate CSPs for bioanalytical investigations using HPLC-ESI-MS/MS has been demonstrated by Fakt et al. [120]. The goal was the stereoselective bioanalysis of (R)-3-amino-2-fluoropropylphosphinic acid, a y-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor agonist, in blood plasma in order to determine whether this active enantiomer is in vivo converted to the 5-enantiomer. In this enantioselective HPLC-MS/MS bioassay, sample preparation consisted of... 

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