A simple, sensitive and repeatable D2O-single cell Raman spectroscopy method is developed to quantify the inhibitory activity of anticancer drug on cancer cell metabolism. The IC50 values obtained from A549...
Rationale: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a class of environmental contaminants with carcinogenic effect drawing worldwide attention. PAHs can be converted into hydroxylated PAHs (OH-PAHs) through metabolic processes. Thus, they are commonly considered as an important class of biomarkers of PAH exposure.However, direct analysis of related metabolites of these environmental pollutants in biological samples using mass spectrometry is still challenging because of matrix effect and ion suppression during nanoelectrospray ionization (nano-ESI).Methods: In our previous work, a polarity-reversed nanoelectrospray ionization (PR-nESI) technique was developed for the analysis of biomolecules in complex matrices.In this work, we further optimized PR-nESI for direct and sensitive analysis of OH-PAHs in different samples under severe salt interference in negative polarity.Results: Compared with conventional nano-ESI, the optimized PR-nESI method realized sensitive detection of 1-naphthol in samples with a concentration of salt up to millimolar level. The signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) of OH-PAHs was increased by 1À2 orders of magnitude compared with conventional nano-ESI. Six different OH-PAHs were successfully detected with high S/N ratio using PR-nESI. PR-nESI was further successfully applied in the analysis of OH-PAHs in spiked fetal blood serum, human urine, and single-cell samples. For environmentally exposed subjects, the detections of OH-PAHs in single-cell samples and urines from human smokers were successfully conducted.
Conclusion:The optimized PR-nESI method was successfully applied for the sensitive analysis of OH-PAHs in complex biological samples with severe salt effects.Based on the present study, PR-nESI can have a promising prospect for the sensitive analysis of other metabolites of environmental pollutants in negative polarity.
| INTRODUCTIONPolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a class of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), 1 which enter into the environment through natural sources (natural wildfire, volcanic eruption, extraterrestrial, and organic sediment decay) and human activities (incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, woods, tobacco, and other biofuels). 2,3 These environmental contaminants are suspended in air as particulate matter for a long term and humans can be substantially exposed to PAHs around industrial activities, leading to potential health risks like cancers and cardiovascular diseases. 4,5 Hydroxylated PAHs (OH-PAHs) are newly recognized contaminants derived from hydroxylation of PAHs, which are often transformed by PAHs in living organisms. 6,7 They are commonly used as metabolic biomarkers for the
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