An assay for mandelate racemase using high-performance liquid chromatography

Mandelate racemase (EC 5.1.2.2) catalyzes the interconversion of the two stereoisomers of mandelic acid. A fixed-time assay for the quantification of mandelate racemase activity has been developed. The assay involves enzymatic conversion of R-mandelate to S-mandelate (or the reverse reaction) followed by separation and detection of the substrate and product using isocratic reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography on a Sumichiral OA-6100 column and absorbance detection. This method offers an economical and efficient alternative to the existing circular dichroism-based and coupled assays.     

A sensitive, nonradiometric assay for dihydroorotic acid dehydrogenase using anion-exchange high-performance liquid chromatography

A new method to assay the mitochondrial pyrimidine de novo enzyme, dihydroorotate (DHO) dehydrogenase, which catalyzes the dehydrogenation of DHO, with orotic acid as the product was developed. The assay was optimized using a rat liver mitochondrial preparation. Orotic acid was quantified with high-performance liquid chromatography using an anion-exchange column (Partisil-SAX) with uv detection at 280 nm. Isocratic elution with low phosphate buffer at pH 4.0 was used. The detection limit was 20 pmol per injection, which is comparable to previously described radiometric assays. The HPLC assay was compared with a spectrophotometric assay measuring orotic acid formation in a deproteinized reaction mixture. Absorbance was measured at the optimal wavelength for orotic acid, 278.5 nm. This assay is less sensitive and less specific than the HPLC assay, which can also detect UMP which might be formed from orotic acid in whole homogenates. With both assays kinetic parameters of the enzyme were determined. In the high concentration range (80-1000 microM) both Km and Vmax values were comparable. With the HPLC assay the concentration range was extended down to 12 microM and initial rates could be determined. The apparent Km was about 12 microM. The HPLC assay is also suitable for use in the study of inhibition of DHO dehydrogenase.     

An assay for dihydroorotase using high-performance liquid chromatography with radioactivity detection

An assay for measuring dihydroorotase activity was devised. Radiolabeled substrate and product were separated by high-performance liquid chromatography using a reverse-phase column with ion-pairing, and the radioactivity was quantitated by flow detection.     

An automated assay for adenylate cyclase using reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography

An automated high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the assay of 3',5'-cyclic AMP was developed using octylsilica. Total analysis time was 10.1 min, with cAMP eluting at 3 min. As little as 10 pmol of cyclic AMP could be detected by absorption at 260 nm. Peak height and area were linearly related to cyclic AMP concentration over at least two orders of magnitude. The analytical procedure gave good results in the assay of crude microsomal preparations of adenylate cyclase from both bovine brain and sea urchin eggs. The method was used to demonstrate that sea urchin adenylate cyclase is a Ca2+-activated enzyme.     

An assay method for ganglioside synthase using anion-exchange chromatography

A rapid procedure which is based on combined ion-exchange chromatography and solubility was established for determination of the activity of ganglioside synthases and cerebroside sulfotransferase. The procedure consists of selective elution of radiolabeled reaction products (acidic glycolipids) freed from labeled precursors and breakdown products on a DEAE-Sephadex column and of direct radioassay of the products in the eluate. Monosialogangliosides were eluted from the column with 40 mM ammonium acetate (AcONH4) in methanol, cerebroside sulfate with 90 mM AcONH4 in methanol, and disialogangliosides with 40 mM AcONH4 in isopropanol/n-hexane/water (55/20/19, v/v/v). The established procedure is simple, reproducible, and economical. Using rat Golgi membrane as enzyme source the recovery rate of the products was over 95%.     

A radioactive assay for acetylcholinesterase using anion-exchange disk

A radioactive assay for acetylcholinesterase is described. The assay is based on the separation of [¹⁴C]acetate from [¹⁴C]acetylcholine by differential adsorption of the former on DEAE anion-exchange disks. The procedure is simple and sensitive and eliminates the use of ion-exchange resin columns or organic extractions. Moreover, when unpurified enzyme preparations are assayed, linear steady-state kinetics can be observed with this method as contrasted to the nonlinear colorimetric method using acetylthiocholine and dithiobisnitrobenzoate. This method also permits the detection in biological samples of low levels of acetylcholinesterase activity, which is not detectable by the colorimetric method. Using the present radioactive method, cellular levels of acetylcholinesterase have been surveyed in N4TG1 neuroblastoma cells, NG108-15 neuroblastoma x glioma hybrid cells, H9c2 myoblasts, and 3T3-L1 and 3T3-C2 fibroblasts.     

A fluorometric assay for HIV-protease activity using high-performance liquid chromatography

A rapid sensitive method for the quantification of in vitro HIV-protease activity has been developed on the basis of the endoproteolytic conversion of N-Dns-SQ-NYPIV to N-Dns-SQNY. The use of the N-dansyl group as a fluorescence label was shown to not significantly alter the apparent kinetic parameters for the peptide-enzyme interaction. Using fluorescence detection, the dansylated product and unconverted substrate are detected in a single rapid (3 min) isocratic reverse-phase HPLC separation in quantities as low as 0.2 pmol. The method is highly reproducible and suited to a variety of applications including the analysis of large sample numbers and rigorous enzymological studies.     

A fluorometric assay for peptidyl alpha-amidation activity using high-performance liquid chromatography

A rapid and sensitive method for the determination of peptidyl alpha-amidation activity has been developed and is based on reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic separation and fluorometric detection. A dansylated tripeptide, N-dansyl-Tyr-Val-Gly-OH, is used as the substrate in the assay and the amount of alpha-amidation activity is determined by quantitating the extent of its conversion to product, N-dansyl-Tyr-Val-NH2. Both product and substrate can be detected in a single assay in quantities as low as 5 fmol by isocratic elution using C-18 reverse-phase columns. The method yields highly reproducible results and requires less than 3 min per sample for separation and quantitation. The assay procedure is applicable to the screening of a large number of samples under different pH conditions and is readily adaptable for use in a variety of studies. For example, the procedure is ideal for detecting alpha-amidation activity in various tissues, monitoring activity at the different stages during purification of a particular alpha-amidation enzyme, determining kinetic parameters of the purified enzyme, and identifying both competitive and noncompetitive inhibitors.     

An assay method for cyclic AMP using high-performance liquid chromatography with pretreatment by alkaline phosphatase

A convenient method for determination of cyclic AMP is described. This nucleotide was determined using high-performance liquid chromatography after the treatment of tissue extracts by alkaline phosphatase. Tissue extracts contain large amounts of materials which interfere with the measurement of cyclic AMP on the chromatogram. By the alkaline phosphatase treatment, these materials were completely converted to compounds which no longer interfered with the measurement. This method enables the detection of 2 pmol cyclic AMP, and is applicable to various tissue extracts which contain at least 0.1 nmol cyclic AMP/g wet wt.     

Determination of gliclazide in human serum by high-performance liquid chromatography using an anion-exchange resin

A method for the routine clinical examination of serum gliclazide by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) on a column packed with a macroporous anion-exchange resin, Diaion CDR-10, was developed. The elution was performed with acetonitrile—methyl alcohol—1.2 M ammonium perchlorate (4:3:7, v/v/v) at a flow-rate of 0.4 ml/min. The retention time of gliclazide was 15 min. It seems that the retention mechanism of gliclazide under the HPLC conditions described is not only ion-exchange mode but reversed-phase mode between the anion-exchange resin and the mobile phase. The detection limit of gliclazide was 0.2 μg/ml in plasma. The coefficient of variation for the within-day assay was 5.0% (0.2 μg/ml, n=8). The decay curve of serum gliclazide in diabetic patients was determined.     

Determination of CTP synthetase activity in crude cell homogenates by a fast and sensitive non-radiochemical assay using anion-exchange high-performance liquid chromatography

A non-radiochemical assay procedure for CTP synthetase was developed in which CTP is detected at 280 nm after separation with anion-exchange HPLC. A complete separation of all nucleoside triphosphates was achieved within 11 min and the minimum amount of CTP which could be accurately determined proved to be 5 pmol. Therefore, our assay procedure is ten-fold more sensitive compared to the frequently used radiochemical assays. The assay was linear with time and protein concentration, although at low protein concentration a lag phase was observed. An amount of 2×10⁶ cells was already sufficient to determine the specific activity of CTP synthetase in HL-60 cells, lymphocytes and in lymphoblasts obtained from pediatric patients suffering from acute lymphoblastic leukemia.     

A high-performance liquid chromatography assay for asparagine synthetase

A highly sensitive method for assaying asparagine synthetase and its glutaminase activity is presented. The amino acids L-asparagine, L-aspartate, L-glutamate, and L-glutamine, are separated by derivatization with o-phthaldialdehyde followed by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography on an Altex ultrasphere-ODS C18 column. The elution is isocratic and the mobile phase used is 50 mM sodium acetate buffer (pH 5.9) with 30% methanol. This assay can easily detect picomoles of asparagine, which may be difficult to do with the other assays that have been described.     

Fluorescent high-performance liquid chromatography assay for lipophilic alcohols

A new ultrasensitive fluorescent derivatization procedure for chromatographic analysis of primary, secondary, and nonpolar tertiary alcohols is described. The procedure uses Bodipy FL in basic dichloromethane solution with Mukaiyama’s reagent (2-chloro-1-methylpyridinium iodide) to form highly fluorescent ester derivatives that can be separated by silica normal-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Rhodamine WT and Oregon green 488 were also useful derivatization reagents. The detection limit for detection of cholesterol and bryostatin by Bodipy FL was less than 1 fmol. The reaction conditions are gentle enough that low concentrations of unstable alcohols such as bryostatin 1 can be measured.     

Specific and rapid assay of urinary oxalic acid using high-performance liquid chromatography

A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method was developed to determine the levels of oxalic acid in the urine. This acid was extracted from urine with tri-n-butyl phosphate and converted into the fluorescent derivative by esterification with 9-anthryldiazomethane (ADAM). The reaction mixture containing the oxalic acid derivative can be directly chromatographed on HPLC using octadecylsilane reverse-phase column monitoring with a fluorophotometric detector. A linear relationship was observed in the range from 1 to 100 micrograms/ml of standard oxalic acid dissolved in saline. Disease-free Japanese adults excrete 23.8 +/- 9.0 mg (mean +/- SD) of oxalic acid per day. This method should prove valuable for routine measurements of urinary oxalic acid as it is accurate, simple, and specific.     

A colorimetric assay for measuring peptidylglycine alpha-amidating monooxygenase using high-performance liquid chromatography.

In many peptide hormones and neuropeptides, the carboxy-terminal alpha-amide structure is essential in eliciting biological activity. In the present study, a rapid and sensitive assay method for the determination of peptidylglycine alpha-amidating monooxygenase (PAM) activity has been reported. This method is based on the monitoring of the absorption at 460 nm of 4-dimethylaminoazobenzene-4'-sulfonyl-Gly-L-Phe-NH2 (Dabsyl-Gly-Phe-NH2), enzymatically formed from the substrate 4-dimethylaminoazobenzene-4'-sulfonyl-Gly-L-Phe-Gly, after separation by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) using a C-18 reversed-phase column by isocratic elution. This method is sensitive enough to measure Dabsyl-Gly-Phe-NH2 at concentrations as low as 1 pmol and yield highly reproducible results and requires less than 5 min per sample for separation and quantitation. The concentrations of copper and ascorbic acid required for maximal enzyme activity were 1 microM and 2 mM, respectively. The pH optimum for PAM activity was 5.0 to 5.5. The Km and Vmax values were respectively 3.5 microM and 100 pmol/micrograms/h with the use of enzyme extract obtained from bovine pituitary. By using this method, PAM activity could be readily detected in a single rat saliva. The sensitivity of this assay method will also aid in the effort to examine the regulation of in vivo PAM activity.     

A reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography assay for dihydroxy-acid dehydratase

A sensitive method for assaying dihydroxy-acid dehydratase activity is described. This enzyme produces alpha-ketoisovaleric and alpha-keto-beta-methylvaleric acids, respectively, in the biosynthesis of valine and isoleucine. These alpha-keto acids, after derivatization with 2,4-dinitrophenyl-hydrazine, were separated and quantified by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography on a Zorbax octadecylsilane C-18 column. As little as 50 pmol of alpha-ketoisovaleric was detected in assays using cell-free extracts from Escherichia coli, whose measured specific activity was 8 mumol of alpha-ketoisovaleric acid produced per hour per milligram protein.     

Molecular and nanoparticle postcolumn reagents for assay of low-molecular-mass biothiols using high-performance liquid chromatography

Determination of low-molecular-mass (LMM) biothiols in biological matrixes is of importance in the studies of their related bio-processes and for the clinical diagnostics of a variety of diseases. Standard method for the assay of the small biothiols is in demand. Postcolumn techniques used in high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) allow automation of the derivatization step and, therefore, are suitable for standardization of HPLC analysis. This paper gives an overview of the existing reaction systems useful for the postcolumn assay of the LMM biothiol molecules in conjunction with HPLC. The postcolumn reagents are classified by the types of their reactions with thiol-containing compounds. The chemical reactivity and selectivity as well as the spectroscopic characteristics of the postcolumn reagents have been addressed. The emerging strategies of using nanoparticles as thiol-reactive reagents and their applications in postcolumn detection of the LMM biothiols have also been discussed in detail.     

Determination of galactosamine impurities in heparin sodium using fluorescent labeling and conventional high-performance liquid chromatography

Heparin is a sulfated glycosaminoglycan (GAG), which contains N-acetylated or N-sulfated glucosamine (GlcN). Heparin, which is generally obtained from the healthy porcine intestines, is widely used as an anticoagulant during dialysis and treatments of thrombosis such as disseminated intravascular coagulation. Dermatan sulfate (DS) and chondroitin sulfate (CS), which are galactosamine (GalN)-containing GAGs, are major process-related impurities of heparin products. The varying DS and CS contents between heparin products can be responsible for the different anticoagulant activities of heparin. Therefore, a test to determine the concentrations of GalN-containing GAG is essential to ensure the quality and safety of heparin products. In this study, we developed a method for determination of relative content of GalN from GalN-containing GAG in heparin active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). The method validation and collaborative study with heparin manufacturers and suppliers showed that our method has enough specificity, sensitivity, linearity, repeatability, reproducibility, and recovery as the limiting test for GalN from GalN-containing GAGs. We believe that our method will be useful for ensuring quality, efficacy, and safety of pharmaceutical heparins. On July 30, 2010, the GalN limiting test based on our method was adopted in the heparin sodium monograph in the Japanese Pharmacopoeia.