Recovery of steroidal glucosiduronic acids from organic solvents containing anionic liquid ion-exchangers

Solutions of anionic liquid ion-exchangers in organic solvents are potentially useful for extracting steroidal glucosiduronic acids from biological fluids and for purifying mixtures of these acids by chromatography. If a glucosiduronic acid is to be isolated in pure form after either of these procedures, it is necessary to separate it from the ion-exchanger. Separation from an organic solution of tetraheptylammonium chloride may be accomplished by extraction with water under the following conditions, which promote transfer of a glucosiduronate to the aqueous phase: (1) an appropriate solvent (diluent) as the organic phase, (2) the presence in the two-phase mixture of an anion such as myristate or dodecyl sulphate to combine with the tetraheptylammonium ion, and (3) an increase of the pH of the aqueous phase in association with the presence of myristate or dodecyl sulphate. The foregoing factors apply also to removal of glucosiduronates from organic solutions of ion exchangers that are hydrochlorides of tertiary, secondary, or primary amines. Since these amines exert progressively less solubilizing effect for glucosiduronates as the pH of the aqueous phase is increased, the conjugates can be released from the organic phase by adjusting the pH to 10 and omitting the myristate or dodecyl sulphate.     

Chromatographic mobilities and partition coefficients of synthetic corticosteroid glucosiduronates

Analytical data are presented on the free acids, the methyl esters, the methyl ester triacetates and the methyl ester triacetate semicarbazones of C-21 glucosiduronic acid conjugates of six adrenal hormones. Chromatographie mobilities of all of these compounds in three or more solvent systems are given. The stability of the steroidal glucosiduronic acids in alkali, their hydrolysis by β-glucuronidase and their partition coefficients in several solvent systems are also given.     

Efficient extraction of bile acid conjugates with tetraheptylammonium chloride, a liquid ion exchanger

Ethyl acetate or chloroform solutions of tetraheptylammonium chloride, an oil-soluble quaternary amine, quantitatively extract polar, anionic lipids such as steroid or bile salt conjugates from aqueous solution by a process of anion exchange.     

Synthesis of mono- and diglucosiduronates of metabolites of deoxycorticosterone and corticosterone and analysis by a new mass spectrometric technique

By condensing 3 alpha,21-dihydroxy-5 beta-pregnan-20-one, or its appropriate monoacetate, with methyl 2,3,4-tri-O-acetyl-1-bromo-1-deoxy-alpha-D-glucuronate in the Koenigs-Knorr reaction beta-D-glucosiduronates 10, 4, and 7 were obtained as polyacetate methyl esters. Alkaline hydrolysis of these substances cleaved the ester groups and gave the corresponding steroidal glucosiduronic acids 12, 6 and 8. Upon treatment with diazomethane, these acids produced the equivalent methyl esters. The C-3, the C-21 and the C-3,21 glucosiduronates of 3 alpha,21-dihydroxy-5 beta-pregnan-11,20-dione were prepared by previously reported methods and converted into the corresponding C-20 semicarbazones (14, 20 and 26). With C-20 stabilized by the semicarbazone group against reduction, it was possible to reduce the 11-oxo function in these substances to an 11 beta-hydroxyl group; after removal of the semi-carbazone moiety from these products at pH 2.0, glucosiduronic acids 18, 22 and 28 were obtained. The mass spectra of a representative group of the mono- and diglucosiduronic acids and esters were determined by utilizing fast atom bombardment and monitoring ions in both positive and negative modes of operation.     

Analysis of phosphate esters in plant material: Extraction and purification

1. A critical study was made of the quantitative extraction of nucleotide and sugar phosphates from plant tissue by either boiling aqueous ethanol or cold trichloroacetic acid. The effect of the extraction technique on the inactivation of the enzymes in the plant tissue and the possibility of adsorption of the phosphate esters on the cell wall were especially considered. 2. In the recommended method the plant tissue was frozen in liquid nitrogen, ground to a powder and then blended with cold aqueous trichloroacetic acid containing 8-hydroxyquinoline to prevent adsorption. 3. The extract contained large amounts of trichloroacetic acid, cations, chloride, sugars, amino acids, hydroxy organic acids, phytic acid, orthophosphoric acid and high-molecular-weight material including some phosphorus-containing compounds. All of these were removed as they were liable to interfere with the chromatographic or enzymic assay of the individual nucleotide or sugar phosphates. 4. The procedure was as follows: the last traces of trichloroacetic acid were extracted with ether after the solution had been passed through a column of Dowex AG 50 in the hydrogen form to remove all cations. High-molecular-weight compounds were removed by ultrafiltration and low-molecular-weight solutes by a two-stage chromatography on cellulose columns with organic solvents. In the first stage, sugars, amino acids, chloride and phytic acid were separated by using a basic solvent (propan-1-ol-water-aqueous ammonia) and, in the second stage, the organic acids and orthophosphoric acid were separated by using an acidic solvent (di-isopropyl ether-formic acid-2-methylpropan-2-ol-water). The final solution of nucleotide and sugar phosphates was substantially free from other solutes and was suitable for the detection of individual phosphate esters by either chromatography or enzymic assay. 5. The recovery of d-glucose 6-phosphate or adenosine 5'-triphosphate added to a trichloroacetic acid extract simulating that from peas and potatoes, and isolated according to the standard procedures, was better than 95%. Estimation of naturally occurring d-glucose 6-phosphate and adenosine 5'-triphosphate in the initial extract of peas and potatoes and in the final purified extract also indicated a recovery of about 95%. A similar estimation of uridine diphosphate glucose in potatoes showed that little or no breakdown occurred.     

RNASwift: A rapid,versatile RNA extraction method free from phenol and chloroform

RNASwift is an inexpensive, versatile method for the rapid extraction of RNA. Existing RNA extraction methods typically use hazardous chemicals including phenol, chloroform and formamide which are often difficult to completely remove from the extracted RNA. RNASwift uses sodium chloride and sodium dodecyl sulphate to lyse the cells and isolate the RNA from the abundant cellular components in conjunction with solid phase extraction or isopropanol precipitation to rapidly purify the RNA. Moreover, the purified RNA is directly compatible with downstream analysis. Using spectrophotometry in conjunction with ion pair reverse phase chromatography to analyse the extracted RNA, we show that RNASwift extracts and purifies RNA of higher quality and purity in comparison to alternative RNA extraction methods. The RNASwift method yields approximately 25 μg of RNA from only 10⁸Escherichia coli cells. Furthermore, RNASwift is versatile; the same simple reagents can be used to rapidly extract RNA from a variety of different cells including bacterial, yeast and mammalian cells. In addition to the extraction of total RNA, the RNASwift method can also be used to extract double stranded RNA from genetically modified E. coli in higher yields compared to alternative methods.     

Plasmid purification by phenol extraction from guanidinium thiocyanate solution: development of an automated protocol.

We have developed a novel plasmid isolation procedure and have adapted it for use on an automated nucleic acid extraction instrument. The protocol is based on the finding that phenol extraction of a 1 M guanidinium thiocyanate solution at pH 4.5 efficiently removes genomic DNA from the aqueous phase, while supercoiled plasmid DNA is retained in the aqueous phase. S1 nuclease digestion of the removed genomic DNA shows that it has been denatured, which presumably confers solubility in the organic phase. The complete automated protocol for plasmid isolation involves pretreatment of bacterial cells successively with lysozyme, RNase A, and proteinase K. Following these digestions, the solution is extracted twice with a phenol/chloroform/water mixture and once with chloroform. Purified plasmid is then collected by isopropanol precipitation. The purified plasmid is essentially free of genomic DNA, RNA, and protein and is a suitable substrate for DNA sequencing and other applications requiring highly pure supercoiled plasmid.     

Complexing of heparin with phosphatidylcholine. A possible supramolecular assembly of plasma heparin.

In a series of attempts to reveal plasma heparin, we found that high ionic strength and modification of protein amino groups were not effective in extracting endogenous heparin (or, indeed, a large percentage of exogenous labelled heparin), whereas delipidation in the presence of 4M-guanidinium chloride gave high yields, indicating that plasma heparin may be assembled with compounds other than proteins, in a form making it inaccessible to water and ions. During the extraction of lipids, a paradoxical entry of heparin into the organic phase was observed. Detergents, including sodium dodecyl sulphate, did not shift heparin into the aqueous phase, whereas repeated chloroform/methanol extraction did so. Using purified compounds we were able to reproduce in vitro both the scavenging of heparin from water as well as the formation of heparin-phosphatidylcholine complexes soluble in organic solvents. Evidence for complexing of heparin with phosphatidylcholine was also obtained by electrophoretic and ultracentrifugation assays. The quaternary-ammonium-containing phosphatidylcholine was the more effective phospholipid in binding heparin; anionic phospholipids did not bind. Only heparin-like glycosaminoglycans bound phosphatidylcholine, but less-sulphated compounds (heparan sulphate and dermatan sulphate) were weaker ligands. Gel-filtration experiments showed that heparin was not bound to liposome vesicles, but that a measurable percentage of the phospholipids was stripped off from vesicles and was found in the form of a complex separable from liposomes by gel filtration. The molecular basis as well as the biological role of the interaction of heparin with major membrane phospholipids are discussed.     

Effect of the concentration of DODMAC and 1-decanol on the behavior of reverse micelles in the extraction of amino acids

The concentrations of dioctyldimethyl ammonium chloride (DODMAC) and 1-decanol in isooctane needed to form reverse micelles by phase contact have been determined. The behavior of these reverse micelles in the extraction of aspartic acid, glutamic acid, and threonine was studied by analyzing all of the ionic species in the aqueous phase. The amino acid is extracted from the aqueous phase by exchanging with the Cl(-) counterions of DODMAC in the reverse micelles. The ionic species in the reverse micelles tend toward their undissociated states as the water uptake by the reverse micelles decreases. The effect of 1-decanol on the extraction of the amino acids with two negative charges is due to the change in the water uptake of the reverse micelles. The concentration of DODMAC has no effect on the ion exchange of the amino acid with one negative charge with the Cl(-) counterions of DODMAC in the reverse micelles. Higher molar ratios of decanol to DODMAC favor the selective separation of amino acids with different charge numbers. (c) 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Synthesis of an ion-binding peptide (DECYL-2) more selective for calcium than ionophore A23187.

The synthesis of the cation-binding cyclic octapeptide, cyclo(Glu-Sar-Gly-(N-decyl)Gly)₂ is reported. This peptide, containing two ionizable Glu carboxyl side chain protons per molecule, can form neutral cation complexes with divalent ions via protonmetal exchange. Solubilized in chloroform solution, the peptide has been found to extract calcium from an aqueous phase (pH 8.5, 100 mM Tris) generally on a $\text{1}\text{1}$ molar basis. By contrast, under comparable conditions but with other metal chlorides, the peptide does not extract magnesium, sodium, or potassium. That the extraction proceeds via proton-metal exchange was demonstrated by the absence of (radioactive) chloride ion from the organic phase. Parallel sets of experiments performed with the naturally-occurring ionophore A23187 reaffirmed that the latter substance extracts calcium and magnesium with nearly equal propensity.     

灵芝转化苦参水提物的3个新生成分体外抗乙型肝炎病毒作用

先在基础培养基中添加苦参水煎汁,然后培养灵芝,得到灵芝培养液,再按乙醇氯仿-5%碳酸氢钠溶液-氯仿的顺序提取培养液中的有机酸成分,用制备高效液相色谱分离,得到6个新组分,用这些组分分别作用于转染了乙型肝炎病毒DNA的2.2.15细胞,用固相放射免疫法测定细胞培养上清液中的乙肝病毒表面抗原(HBsAg)和e抗原(HBeAg)的含量,用四甲基偶氮唑盐(MTT)法测定细胞的存活率。结果表明,其中的3个组分对2.2.15细胞分泌HBsAg和HBeAg有抑制作用,提示可能具有抗乙肝病毒的作用。     

A novel semiautomated method for the estimation of free fatty acid in serum or plasma

A modification of the semiautomated assay method of Antonis (1965. J. Lipid Res. 6:307-312) for free fatty acid is presented. Free fatty acids are extracted from serum or plasma into di-n-butyl ether-2-methoxyethanol; the extract is almost free from phospholipids. The acids are analyzed in a portion of extract by a copper soap method using diphenylcarbazide. The extractant, being less dense than water, is easily separated from an aqueous phase both in the extraction of samples and in the assay of copper soaps. The assay is comparable in accuracy with well-tried titrimetric methods and is quicker and easier to operate.     

Isolation and characterization of proteoglycans synthesized by mouse osteoblastic cells in culture during the mineralization process.

Proteoglycans in mineralized (0.5 M-EDTA/4 M-guanidinium chloride-extractable) and non-mineralized (4 M-guanidinium chloride-extractable) matrices synthesized by a mouse osteoblastic-cell line MC3T3-E1 were characterized at different phases of mineralization in vitro. Cell cultures were labelled with [35S]sulphate and either [3H]glucosamine or 3H-labelled amino acids. At the mineralization phase a large majority of proteoglycans were extracted with 4 M-guanidinium chloride (G extract), and at least five species of labelled proteoglycans were identified; dermatan sulphate proteoglycans (DSPG), apparent Mr approx. 120,000 and 70,000), heparan sulphate proteoglycans (HSPG, apparent Mr approx. 200,000 and 120,000) and DS chains with very little core protein. DSPGs weakly bound to an octyl-Sepharose CL-4B column and HSPGs bound more tightly, whereas DS chains did not bind to the column. Amounts of labelled proteoglycans extracted with 0.5 M-EDTA/4 M-guanidinium chloride (EDTA extract) were much less than those in G extract. Although the predominant species in the EDTA extract were comparable with the DS or DSPGs in the G extract, none of them bound to octyl-Sepharose CL-4B, indicating their lack of hydrophobicity. At the nonmineralizing phase a large chondroitin sulphate proteoglycan (Mr greater than 600,000) was found in the matrix in addition to the five proteoglycan species similar to those at the mineralization phase. Although DS chains at the early phase were similar in size to those at the mineralization phase, the ratio of 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-3-O-(beta-D-gluco-4-enepyranosyluronic acid)-4-O-sulpho-D-galactose to 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-3-O-(beta-D-gluculo-4-enepyranosyluronic acid)-6-O-sulpho-D-galactose was less than that at the mineralization phase. These results agree with those of previous studies performed in vivo and suggest that alteration in the synthesis of proteoglycans is involved in the mineralization process. They also suggest that at the osteoblastic mineralization front proteoglycans undergo partial degradation and lose their hydrophobicity.     

Solubilization limit of lysozyme into DODMAC reverse micelles

Dioctyldimethyl ammonium chloride (DODMAC) was used to form reverse micelles and to extract lysozyme from an aqueous solution into an organic phase. The solubilization behavior of lysozyme into a DODMAC reverse micellar phase was examined in terms of the temperature, the type of cations in the aqueous phase, and the surfactant concentration in the organic phase. Complete removal of lysozyme from the aqueous phase was obtained when the pH was set one unit higher than the pI of the protein. However, it was found that there is a solubilization limit of lysozyme in the organic phase. Not all the lysozyme extracted out of the initial aqueous phase was solubilized into the DODMAC reverse micellar phase, resulting in the formation of white precipitate at the aqueous-organic interface. Temperature has a negligible effect on the solubilization limit of lysozyme. The value of the solubilization limit is a strong function of the type of cations present in the aqueous phase, indicating an important role of lysozyme-cation interactions on the extraction process. An increase in the DODMAC concentration from 100-200 mM resulted in little change in the highest concentration of lysozyme obtained in the organic phase.     

Three-liquid-phase extraction of diosgenin and steroidal saponins from fermentation of Dioscorea zingibernsis C. H. Wright

Diosgenin is an important starting material in the steroidal hormone industry. The yield of diosgenin obtained from the fermentation of Dioscorea zingibernsis C. H. Wright (DZW) by Trichoderma harzianum is higher than that typically obtained from acid hydrolysis. In this paper, the extraction of steroids in the culture broth was studied. A novel three-liquid-phase system (TLPS) consisted of petroleum ether, ethanol, ammonium sulphate and water was used to separate diosgenin and steroidal saponins in the culture broth. The partition behaviors of various steroidal saponins, diosgenin and glucose were investigated. From this, an optimized TLPS was obtained, which composed of 30% ethanol (w/w), 17% (NH₄)₂SO₄ (w/w) and 40% (w/w) petroleum ether. In the optimized TLPS, almost all of the diosgenin was extracted into the top phase giving a recovery of 97.24%, whereas the steroidal saponins were mainly extracted into the middle phase, with recoveries of zingibernsis newsaponin, deltonin and diosgenin-diglucoside reaching almost 100%. The recoveries of trillin and diosgenin-triglucoside were 96.03% and 98.82%, respectively. Glucose tended to remain in the bottom phase, giving a recovery of 72.01%. The three-liquid-phase extraction (TLPE) successfully resulted in the simultaneous separation of diosgenin, untransformed steroidal saponins and glucose.     

Analysis of Biogenic Amines in Bovine Retina by Gas Chromatography-Negative Ion Chemical Ionisation Mass Spectrometry

Biogenic amines in bovine retina have been identified and quantified by an extraction-derivatisation procedure involving their reaction with 3,5-di(trifluoromethyl)benzoyl chloride (DTFMBCl) in the aqueous phase followed by extraction into an organic solvent, hydrolysis of phenolic esters, and conversion of free hydroxyl groups to trimethylsilyl ethers. Subsequent analysis of these DTFMB-trimethylsilyl derivatives by gas chromatography-negative ion chemical ionisation mass spectrometry revealed that the molecular ion carried most (greater than 60%) of the ion current, which made the method highly specific and gave a potential limit of detection below the picogram level. This method establishes unequivocally that the principal amines in bovine retina are p-tyramine, dopamine, and 5-hydroxytryptamine.     

Simple approach for analysis of plasma oxo-, hydroxy- and dicarboxylic acids

Following deproteinization of plasma with organic solvents the supernatant was shaken with hexane and cation-exchange resin in an Eppendorf tube to remove fatty and amino acids and the medium was subjected to direct treatment with ethyl chloroformate under catalytic influence of pyridine. A subsequent extraction of the immediately formed ethyl esters with a drop of chloroform enabled us to subject the sample to gas chromatographic (GC) analysis. Since ketocarboxylic acids do not require a preliminary oximation the total time of sample workup and analysis takes only several minutes.     

A new approach to preparative enzymatic synthesis

A new approach to preparative organic synthesis in aqueous–organic systems is suggested. It is based on the idea that the enzymatic process is carried out in a biphasic system “water–water-immiscible organic solvent.” Thereby the enzyme is localized in the aqueous phase—this eliminates the traditional problem of stabilizing the enzyme against inactivation by a nonaqueous solvent. Hence, in contrast to the commonly used combinations “water–water-miscible organic solvent,” in the suggested system the content of water may be infinitely low. This allows one to dramatically shift the equilibrium of the reactions forming water as a reaction product (synthesis of esters and amides, polymerization of amino acids, sugars and nucleotides, dehydration reactions, etc.) toward the products. The fact that the system consists of two phases provides another very important source for an equilibrium shift, i.e., free energies of the transfer of a reagent from one phase to the other. Equations are derived describing the dependence of the equilibrium constant in a biphasic system on the ratio of the volumes of the aqueous and nonaqueous phases and the partition coefficients of the reagents between the phases. The approach has been experimentally verified with the synthesis of N-acetyl-L -tryptophan ethyl ester from the respective alcohol and acid. Porous glass was impregnated with aqueous buffer solution of chymotrypsin and suspended in chloroform containing N-acetyl-L -tryptophan and ethanol. In water (no organic phase) the yield of the ester is about 0.01%, whereas in this biphasic system it is practically 100%. The idea is applicable to a great number of preparative enzymatic reactions.     

Ion-pairing separation of bioactive peptides using an aqueous/octan-1-ol micro-extraction system from bovine haemoglobin complex hydrolysates

The ion-pair concept was applied on complex haemoglobin hydrolysates to extract two opioid peptides, LVV-haemorphin-7 and VV-haemorphin-7, in an aqueous/octan-1-ol micro-extraction system in the presence of alkyl-sulfonic acid as a surfactant agent and in relation to the haemorphin physico-chemical properties (charge, hydrophobicity). The effect of combined alkyl chain length/aqueous phase pH and the haem behaviour during the extraction, on the haemorphin recovery yield and enrichment has been determined. It has proved that transport over the organic phase is mediated by the alkyl-sulfonic acids, whatever be the aqueous phase pH. However, increasing both the alkyl chain length and the pH in the aqueous phase shows an haemorphin enrichment ratio increase but a recovery decrease of the extracted opioid peptides in the organic phase. Therefore, the best conditions to extract LVVh-7 and VVh-7 are the use of the octane-sulfonic acid at aqueous phase pH of 5 or 7 and the octane or the heptane-sulfonic acid with an aqueous phase pH of 5 or 7 respectively. In these conditions, a partition coefficient of 1.64 and 1.60 respectively for LVVh-7 and VVh-7 are obtained and represent about 40 times that acquired without agent.     

Reverse micellar extraction for downstream processing of lipase: Effect of various parameters on extraction

Reverse micellar extraction of lipase using cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) was investigated. The effect of various process parameters on both forward and backward extraction of lipase from crude extract was studied to optimize its yield and purity. Forward extraction of lipase was found to be maximum using Tris buffer at pH 9.0 containing 0.10 M NaCl in aqueous phase and 0.20 M CTAB in organic phase consisting of isooctane, butanol and hexanol. In case of backward extraction, lipase was extracted from the organic phase to a fresh aqueous phase in 0.05 M potassium phosphate buffer (pH 7.0) containing 1.0 M KCl. The activity recovery, extraction efficiency and purification factor of lipase were found to be 82.72%, 40.27% and 4.09-fold, respectively. The studies also indicated that the organic phase recovered after back extraction could be reused for the extraction of lipase from crude extract.