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The use of time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (Tof-SIMS) for the step-by-step control of a peptide synthesis on a solid support is illustrated. The positive secondary ions, issuing from energetic fragmentation, are characteristic of the terminal groups of the step under investigation. The negative secondary ions result from the cleavage of the benzyl ester link between the polymer support and the first amino acid, and provide direct identification of the growing sequence. Tof-SIMS offers this unique analytical possibility without any preliminary separation of the peptide from its support.

A series of aminotroponimine and aminotropone derivatives were studied by electrospray mass spectrometry. MS and MS/MS data were acquired according to automated procedures. In the case of mono- and di-halogenated compounds, their specific behavior upon collisionally-activated dissociation conditions provided rapid structural assignments through inexpensive isotopic labeling MS/MS experiments.

International audience; Supported peptide and drug-like organic molecule libraries were profiled in single nondestructive imaging static secondary ion mass spectrometric experiments. The selective rupture of the bond linking the compound and the insoluble polymeric support (resin) produced ions that were characteristic of the anchored molecules, thus allowing unambiguous resin bead assignment. Very high sensitivity and specificity were obtained with such a direct analytical method, which avoids the chemical release of the molecules from the support. Libraries issued from either mix-and-split or parallel solid-phase organic syntheses were profiled, demonstrating the usefulness of such a technique for characterization and optimization during combinatorial library development. Moreover, the fact that the control was effected at the bead level whatever the structure and quantity of the anchored molecules allows the sole identification of active beads selected from on-bead screening. Under such circumstances, the time-consuming whole-library characterization could thus be suppressed, enhancing the throughput of the analytical process.

In combinatorial chemistry, most libraries are prepared according to solid-phase synthesis strategies using resins or pins. Although synthesis and purification steps are facilitated, reaction monitoring presents difficulties. Since the polymeric support is not soluble, an analytical method able to cope with a solid sample is thus required to perform direct identification of the anchored molecules without any chemical treatment. Static-Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (S-SIMS) was investigated in that purpose. Positive and negative ion mass spectra were acquired to identify single beads whereas mixtures (Mix and Split libraries or pooled beads issued from different batches) were profiled through imaging experiments.

The positive ion electrospray ionization (ESI+) mass spectra of peptides usually display only protonated molecules provided that soft ionization conditions are applied (low cone voltage to prevent in-source dissociations). Such ions can be multiply charged depending on the molecular weight of the studied compounds. We have experienced an unexpected behavior during the ESI analysis of a modified peptide of relatively high mass (3079 Da). A specific fragmentation occurred even under soft energetic conditions, leading to a mass spectrum containing multiply charged molecular and fragment ions. The selective rupture involved the amide bond between the glutamic acid and proline residues (E-P sequence). The successive replacement of each amino acid by an alanine residue (positional scanning study) was undertaken to assess which part of the sequence induced such selective and abundant fragmentation on multiply charged species. The succession P-P was evidenced as the minimum unit giving rise to the first peptide bond rupture in the sequence X-P-P. Any acidic amino acid at the X position (X = D, E) favored the fragmentation by an intramolecular interaction. Such proline-induced fragmentation occurring readily in the source differed from the literature data on the specific behavior of proline-containing peptides where bond ruptures occur solely in dissociation conditions.

Liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS) was used for the quantification of the neuromuscular blocking agent rocuronium in human plasma. Verapamil was used as internal standard. The samples were subjected to a dichloromethane liquid-liquid extraction after ion pairing of the positively charged ammonium compound with iodide prior to LC-MS. Optimized conditions involved separation on a Symmetry Shield RP-18 column (50 x 2.1 mm, 3.5 microm) using a 15-min gradient from 10 to 90% acetonitrile in water containing 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid at 250 microl/min. Linear detector responses for standards were observed from 25 to 2,000 ng/ml. The extraction recovery averaged 59% for rocuronium and 83% for the internal standard. The limit of quantification (LOQ), using 500 microl of plasma, was 25 ng/ml. Precision ranged from 1.3 to 19% (LOQ), and accuracy was between 92 and 112%. In plasma samples, at 20 and 4 degrees C, rocuronium was stable at physiological pH for 4 h; frozen at -30 degrees C it was stable for at least 75 days. The method was found suitable for the analysis of samples collected during pharmacokinetic investigations in humans.

In the fast expanding field of combinatorial chemistry, profiling libraries has always been a matter of concern—as illustrated by the buoyant literature over the past seven years. Spectroscopic methods, including especially mass spectrometry and to a lesser extent IR and NMR, have been applied at different levels of combinatorial library synthesis: in the rehearsal phase to optimize the chemistry prior to library generation, to confirm library composition, and to characterize after screening each structure that exhibits positive response. Most of the efforts have been concentrated on library composition assessment. The difficulties of such analyses have evolved from the infancy of the combinatorial concept, where large mixtures were prepared, to the recent parallel syntheses of collections of discrete compounds. Whereas the complexity of the analyses has diminished, an increased degree of automation was simultaneously required to achieve efficient library component identification and quantification. In this respect, mass spectrometry has been found to be the method of choice, providing rapid, sensitive, and informative analyses, especially when coupled to chromatographic separation. Fully automated workstations able to cope with several hundreds of compounds per day have been designed. After a brief introduction to describe the combinatorial approach, library characterization will be discussed in detail, considering first the solution-based methodologies and secondly the support-bound material analyses. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Mass Spec Rev 19: 139–161, 2000

International audience; To evaluate the amount of pyroglutamic acid formation during the synthesis of glutamic acid containing peptides, resin beads were substituted by known amounts of Fmoc-Glu(O(t)Bu)-Phe-Ala-NH2 and the corresponding side- product Pyr-Phe-Ala-NH2 and directly analyzed by time of flight-secondary ion mass spectrometry. Detection and quantification of pyroglutamic acid was achieved without release of the peptide chains in solution.

Some of the chemistry of amino acids going on in our laboratory (Laboratoire des Amino acides Peptides et Protéines) is described as well as some mass spectrometry methodology for their characterization particularly on solid supports. Several aspects are presented including: (i) the stereoselective synthesis of natural and unnatural amino acids using 2-hydroxypinan-3-one as chiral auxiliary; (ii) the stereoselective synthesis of natural and unnatural amino acids by deracemization of alpha-amino acids via their ketene derivatives; (iii) the synthesis of alpha-aryl-alpha-amino acids via reaction of organometallics with a glycine cation; (iv) the diastereoselective synthesis of glycosyl-alpha-amino acids; (v) the synthesis of beta-amino acids using alpha-aminopyrrolidinopiperazinediones as chiral templates; (vi) the reactivity of urethane-N-protected N-carboxyanhydrides. To characterize natural and non natural amino acids through their immonium ions by mass spectrometry, some methodology is also described.

International audience; Imaging time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) of solid-phase peptide syntheses carried out by the Merrifield and Sheppard strategies is described. Mixtures of resin beads mixed at random from batch syntheses or obtained in combinatorial chemistry by the mix and split technique, where each bead is functionalized by a unique peptide, were analyzed directly without any chemical cleavage of the growing chains to assess the nature of the growing structure on any bead of the mixture without its isolation.

A novel strategy for the synthesis of peptide-bioorganic hybrid silica materials is reported. It relies on the design of hybrid peptides bearing a trialkoxysilane group. These reactive monomers are covalently attached to silica without requiring any prior surface modification. As an example, a bioorganic-inorganic OMS aldolisation catalyst is prepared using the peptide sequence Pro-Pro-Asp-Lys.

A cleavage routine for chiral analysis has revealed that the N-terminal residue in model dipeptides, after derivatisation with a chiral isocyanate reagent, can be cleaved off as the N-carbamoyl ester under relatively mild conditions (MeOH/SOCl2/60 °C for 3 h) free from inherent problems of racemisation. The diastereoisomeric carbamoyl amino acid esters produced can be separated and identified by HPLC. The methodology has been optimised for a number of representative amino acids, including tyrosine, histidine, methionine and tryptophan which have side-functions capable of complicating the procedure.

International audience; We investigated a variant of desorption/ionization on porous silicon (DIOS) mass spectrometry utilizing an aqueous suspension of either porous silica gel or porous alumina (pore size of 60 and 90 A, respectively). Laser desorption/ionization (LDI) from samples directly deposited on a stainless steel surface without any inorganic substrates was also achieved. Synthetic peptides designed to cover large sequence diversity constituted our model compounds. Sample preparation, including material conditioning, peptide solubilization, and deposition protocol onto standard matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) probe, as well as ionization source tuning were optimized to perform sensitive reproducible LDI analyses. The addition of either a cationizing agent or an alkali metal scavenger to the sample suspension allowed modification of the ionization output. Comparing hydrophilic silica gel to hydrophobic reversed-phase silica-gel as well as increasing material pore size provided further insights into desorption/ionization processes. Furthermore, mixtures of peptides were analyzed to probe the spectral suppression phenomenon when no interfering organic matrix was present. The results gathered from synthetic peptide cocktails indicated that LDI mass spectrometry on silica gel or alumina constitutes a promising complementary method to MALDI in proteomics for peptide mass fingerprinting.

The selective removal of N-Boc protection can be obtained in the presence of either TBDMS or TBDPS ethers. On the basis of promising results from the literature, we first tried sonication, that failed, whereas the exclusive cleavage of the Boc group was successfully achieved by a saturated solution of HCl in ethyl acetate.

Gem-diamino peptides were studied by fast atom bombardment (FAB) and electrospray ionization (ESI) mass spectrometry to evidence specific fragmentations involving the labile modified bonds. Base peaks recorded in the positive mode were attributed to fragment ions even with soft atmospheric pressure ionization. The criterion that one ion corresponds to one molecule in ESI mass spectra commonly encountered in high throughput analysis of combinatorial libraries must be considered with caution when fragile structures are analyzed.

Details of the synthesis of the protected pentapeptide linear precursor on a resin with an acid-labile linker, and its subsequent cyclisation to cyclo(-Arg-Gly-Asp-Ser-Lys-) are presented. The cyclopentapeptide, which is known to exist in solution in a β- and γ-turn conformation, shows specific differences in its effect on adhesion and cell spreading for fibroblast 3T3 and macrophage Bac 1 cells.

Poly(ethyleneglycol) (PEG) substituted by various organic moities were analyzed by electrospray ionization (ESI) mass spectrometry in order to determine the best experimental protocol allowing reproducible, sensitive and informative spectra in the search of completely automated high throughput identification of libraries generated by the liquid-phase methodology. The nature of the eluent and of the PEG derivatization as well as the value of the sampling cone voltage were investigated by comparing the recorded oligomer distributions.

Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry was found to be a valuable tool to follow multi-step organic liquid-phase syntheses. Such an analytical method is not limited to the monitoring of peptide synthesis but could be extended to any supported organic structures, in particular in the field of combinatorial chemistry.

Tentoxin [cyclo-(MeAla1-Leu2-MeΔPhe3-Gly4] is a metabolite isolated from a phytopathogenic fungusAlternaria alternata, which induces chlorosis of many plants. This potential natural herbicide binds specifically to the soluble part CF1 of the chloroplastic coupling factor, which is a proton ATP-synthase. The effect of the toxin is concentration dependent: at low concentration it is a powerful inhibitor, while at higher concentration, it stimulates the enzyme. We synthesized tentoxin and we designed new analogues in order to vary the hydrophobicity on the side chain and to study the structure activity relationships. Comparative activities suggest that it is possible to separate inhibitory and activating effects using tentoxin analogues, showing some evidence for the existence of two binding sites with different affinity constant.

Syntheses carried out on soluble polymers, such as polyethylene glycol (PEG), benefit the advantages of both solution-phase and solid-phase syntheses. The choice of the reaction solvent governs the polymer solubility. Synthetic steps are conducted under homogeneous conditions whereas purifications are performed by filtration after polymer precipitation. This alternative strategy, known as liquid-phase chemistry, has been investigated to prepare combinatorial libraries.The fact that soluble polymer supported molecules are directly amenable to standard spectroscopic methods, including NMR (1H, 13C) and ESI or MALDI mass spectrometry (ElectroSpray and Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization) allows to perform to in situ reaction monitoring without the need to release the compound from the polymeric support.We report a general methodology to characterize step by step soluble polymer supported organic molecules by MALDI and ESI mass spectrometry. High throughput analyses were targeted to fullfil combinatorial chemistry requirements. Data acquisition and interpretation were automated through the design of specific experimental protocols and a data managment software. MALDI mass spectrometry was appropriate to analyze pure supported molecules whereas ESI mass spectrometry coupled to liquid chromatography was required to unravel PEG mixtures.

Measuring interactions between a drug candidate and its specific target constitutes a parameter of upmost importance in drug discovery process. Because of its robustness and very high sensitivity, radio-isotopic labeling represents up to now the reference method for these pharmacological studies. However, the use of radioactivity confers several constraints about security, health hazards and environmental issues involved by radioactive waste storage. Regarding such limitations, non-radioactive technologies have been developed principally based on fluorescence detection. But the cost of such assay as well as the fact that incorporation of a bulky fluorescent block can affect the affinity for small ligand limit their use. In this context, we aim to develop a new methodology to quantify receptor-ligands interactions. Mass spectrometry (MS) presents very interesting features in terms of detection sensitivity and specificity, making this technique a challenging analytical tool to replace radioactivity and fluorescence measurements commonly used in pharmacology. Among all MS technologies, the capacity of inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) to provide metallic and hetero elements absolute quantification, whatever the nature of the sample medium, prompted us to investigate this technique in combination with an appropriate labeling of the molecule of interest. Selenium was selected as a good compromise between ICP-MS response and chemical tagging ability through the creation of covalent bonds using conventional organic sulfur chemistry without disturbance of the affinity toward targeted receptor. Proof of concept was illustrated on the vasopressin receptor (V1A), a GPCR involved in vasoconstriction and emotional behavior and implying peptide as native ligand. Different strategies were applied to design selenium labeled peptides relying in either conventional amino acid substitution by corresponding selenium containing residue into peptide sequence such as cysteine (Cys) replacement by selenocysteine (Sec) as well as proline (Pro) by selenazolidine (Sez), or N-terminal peptide derivatization with a selenium containing small organic entity. ICP-MS analytical methodology was carefully investigated to provide sensitive and reliable selenium signal measurement. High inorganic salts contents of pharmacological buffer along with polyatomic interferences from plasma interfering selenium detection necessitate chromatographic separation and collision reaction cell equipment before ICP-MS detection. The pharmacological protocol was also adapted to the analytical requirements, in particular quantity of cells and sample handling. Robustness of the designed competitive binding assay was evaluated through the affinity constant (Ki) measurement of several known V1A-R ligands exhibiting either high or poor affinity for the receptor. Experimental values were strongly correlated to literature data, enabling to validate the proof of concept of such methodology and to propose a suitable alternative to radioactive labeling.; La mesure d’interaction entre une molécule candidate et sa cible biologique est d’un intérêt majeur dans la recherche de nouveaux composés thérapeutiques. A l’heure actuelle, le marquage radioactif est la méthode de référence pour ce type d’étude pharmacologique, permettant une détection spécifique et extrêmement sensible de la molécule d’intérêt dans des matrices biologiques complexes. Cependant l’utilisation de la radioactivité présente de nombreux inconvénients, principalement en termes de sécurité pour les utilisateurs et problématiques environnementales induites par le stockage de déchets radioactifs. Au regard de ces limitations, des technologies alternatives ont été développées principalement basées sur une détection de fluorescence. Toutefois, l’incorporation de groupements encombrants tels que les fluorophores peut potentiellement perturber les propriétés physico-chimiques de la molécule et ainsi altérer son affinité envers le récepteur, ce qui limite l’application de ce type de stratégie pour les ligands de faible poids moléculaire. Dans ce contexte, nous souhaitons développer une méthodologie alternative pour quantifier les interactions récepteur-ligands. La spectrométrie de masse présente de remarquables capacités en termes de sensibilité et de spécificité d’analyse. Parmi les technologies existantes, l’ICP-MS est une technique extrêmement sensible permettant la quantification absolue d’hétéroéléments indépendamment de la matrice dans laquelle se trouve l’échantillon. Cette technique associée à un marquage approprié de la molécule d’intérêt a donc été évaluée. Le sélénium a été sélectionné comme un bon compromis entre la réponse obtenue en ICP-MS et la possibilité d’introduire ce marqueur au sein de la molécule d’intérêt selon des protocoles de chimie conventionnelle, sans perturbation de l’affinité pour le récepteur. La preuve de concept a été illustrée sur le récepteur à la vasopressine V1A impliquant des ligands de nature peptidique. Différentes stratégies ont été appliquées pour la conception de ligands marqués au sélénium basées sur la substitution d’acides aminés par leurs analogues séléniés (ex : remplacement de la cystéine (Cys) par la sélénocystéine (Sec) et de la proline (Pro) par la sélénazolidine (Sez)) ainsi que la dérivatisation en position N-terminale du peptide avec une petite molécule organique. La méthodologie analytique par ICP-MS a été développée de manière à obtenir une mesure du sélénium à la fois sensible et fiable. La forte proportion de sels inorganiques contenus dans la matrice pharmacologique a nécessité le recours à une séparation chromatographique et à une cellule de collision en amont de la détection par ICP-MS. Le protocole pharmacologique a également été adapté aux exigences analytiques. Ces modifications ont notamment porté sur la récupération de l’échantillon pour procéder à son injection ainsi que sur la quantité de cellules utilisées. La robustesse des expériences pharmacologiques ainsi conçues a été évaluée par la mesure de la constante d’affinité (Ki) de ligands caractéristiques du récepteur V1A présentant des affinités élevées et faibles pour ce dernier. Les résultats obtenus ont présenté une très bonne corrélation avec les valeurs de référence indiquées dans la littérature, permettant ainsi de valider la preuve de concept de cette méthodologie et de proposer une alternative viable au marquage radioactif.

The SID methodology, for Stable Isotope Dilution, is a widely applied methodology for peptides and proteins analysis in mass spectrometry, usually associated with atmospheric pressure ionisation techniques. This thesis is consequently devoted to the application of SID methodology in matrix assisted laser desorption/ionisation (MALDI) mass spectrometry to quantify receptor/ligand interaction in pharmacology. Indeed, a great number of pathologies involve membrane receptors like G protein coupled receptors (GPCR) in interaction with several ligands, frequently peptides. Particularly, the V1A receptor, is related to vasoconstriction activity of the peptide hormone AVP (arginine vasopressine) and contraction of muscular cells as well as many social behaviors. This receptor was chosen as model, requiring the chemical labelling of the ligand Homo-HO-LVA (Hydroxy Linear Vasopressin Antagonist), selected for its high affinity towards the V1A receptor in order to introduce the entity on which relies the quantification in SID/MALDI. This methodology is applied through the covalent binding of HCCA (4-hydroxy-α-cyanocinnamic acid) matrix, usually encountered in peptide analysis, to obtain the modified peptide (JMV4854) through N-terminal acylation. The objective is to take advantage of the use of both HCCA tagging and HCCE (4-hydroxy-α-cinnamic methyl ester) matrix for the specific and sensitive detection of compounds down to picomolar concentrations. Importantly, quantification with SID requires a calibration protocol and a statistical validation before pharmacological assays. This consists in the measurement of JMV4854 affinity towards V1A-R through thermodynamic experiments in order to quantify the dissociation constant (Kd) and determine afterwards constants for untagged molecules by competitive binding assays. Furthermore, a second receptor model, CCKB-R (cholecystokinine B receptor), was then studied to validate the quantification methodology. Facing the renewed interest in pharmaceutic industry of kinetic experiments for dissociation constant measurement, it would be interesting to apply this new methodology to drug discovery, representing a relevant alternative to current “gold-standard” methodologies such as radioactivity and fluorescence. A second field of research has been initiated with a covalent labelling designed to enhance peptide fragmentation for electrospray-based (ESI-MS/MS) tandem mass spectrometry measurements. Preliminary studies with the synthesis of pre-formed ions like N-terminal substitution with pyridinium entities gave very promising results opening the way of other quantification strategies.; La dilution isotopique, SID pour « Stable Isotope Dilution », est une méthode largement utilisée pour la quantification de peptides et protéines en spectrométrie de masse, généralement associée aux techniques d’ionisation ambiante. Les travaux de cette thèse sont donc consacrés à l’application de la méthodologie de la dilution isotopique (SID) en spectrométrie de masse par désorption/ionisation laser assistée par une matrice (MALDI) pour la mesure d’interaction récepteur/ligand en pharmacologie. En effet, un nombre important de pathologies mettent en jeu des récepteurs membranaires tels que les récepteurs couplés aux protéines G (RCPG) en interaction avec différents ligands, souvent peptidiques. En particulier, le récepteur V1A est impliqué dans l’activité vasoconstrictrice de l’hormone peptidique AVP (Arginine VasoPressine) et la contraction de cellules musculaires ainsi que dans certains comportements sociaux. Ce récepteur a été choisi comme modèle d’étude nécessitant le marquage par voie chimique du ligand Homo-HO-LVA (pour « Hydroxy Linear Vasopressin Antagonist »), sélectionné pour sa forte affinité envers le récepteur V1A afin d’introduire l’entité permettant le dosage en SID/MALDI. Cette méthodologie est mise en œuvre via la génération d’une liaison covalente de la matrice HCCA (4-hydroxy-α-cyanocinnamic acid), couramment utilisée pour l’analyse peptidique pour obtenir le peptide modifié (JMV4854) par acylation en position N-terminale. Le but est alors de tirer profit de l’utilisation conjointe de ce marquage et de la matrice neutre HCCE (4-hydroxy-α-cyanocinnamate de méthyle) pour la détection spécifique et sensible de composés jusqu’à des concentrations picomolaires. L’étape stratégique de quantification par dilution isotopique nécessite un étalonnage et une validation statistique avant de pouvoir passer à l’application pharmacologique. Celle-ci consiste à mesurer l’affinité du JMV4854 pour le récepteur V1A par des expériences thermodynamiques de mesure de constantes de dissociation (Kd) afin de déterminer par la suite des constantes de dissociation de molécules non marquées via des expériences de compétition. Un second modèle de récepteur, le CCKB-R (cholecystokinine B receptor), a ensuite été étudié pour valider la méthodologie de quantification. Devant le regain d’intérêt des laboratoires pharmaceutiques pour les expériences cinétiques de mesure de constantes de dissociation, il serait intéressant d’y appliquer cette méthodologie. Celle-ci présente un potentiel intéressant en tant qu’alternative aux méthodologies actuellement incontournables que sont la radioactivité et la fluorescence. Un second d’axe d’étude a été initié avec un marquage conçu pour diriger la fragmentation de peptides pour des mesures en spectrométrie de masse en tandem par ionisation Electrospray (ESI-MS/MS). Des modifications par introduction en position N-terminale des peptides d’une charge fixe ont été envisagées. Des études préliminaires (synthèse d’ions préformés par incorporation d’une entité pyridinium) ont montré un comportement prometteur en fragmentation ouvrant de nouvelles perspectives de quantification.

The advent of proteomics and metabolomics require the development of highly efficient analytical tool in order to detect and identify peptides and proteins as well as small organic compounds present in biological media. Due to its sensitivity, specificity and speed of data acquisition, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization constitutes one of the major ionization methods in mass spectrometry suitable for the analyses of biomolecules. However the sensitive detection of low molecular weight compounds (, L'émergence de disciplines post-génomiques, telles que la protéomique et la métabolomique, requiert le développement d'outils analytiques toujours plus performants afin de déterminer, respectivement, l'ensemble des peptides et protéines et des composés organiques de faible masse moléculaire présents dans un milieu biologique. En raison de sa sensibilité, spécificité et rapidité d'acquisition des données, la désorption/ionisation laser assistée par une matrice (MALDI) constitue une des méthodes d'ionisation majeure en spectrométrie de masse (MS) permettant d'envisager les analyses de ces composés. Cependant, elle présente des limitations pour la détection de petites molécules (