Multiple hydroxy-, keto-, di-, and tri-carboxylic acids are among the cellular metabolites of central carbon metabolism (CCM). Sensitive and reliable analysis of these carboxylates is important for many biological and cell engineering studies. In this work, we examined 3-nitrophenylhydrazine as a derivatizing reagent and optimized the reaction conditions for the measurement of ten CCM related carboxylic compounds, including glycolate, lactate, malate, fumarate, succinate, citrate, isocitrate, pyruvate, oxaloacetate, and α-ketoglutarate as their 3-nitrophenylhydrazones using LC/MS with electrospray ionization. With the derivatization protocol which we have developed, and using negative-ion multiple reaction monitoring on a triple-quadrupole instrument, all of the carboxylates showed good linearity within a dynamic range of ca. 200 to more than 2000. The on-column limits of detection and quantitation were from high femtomoles to low picomoles. The analytical accuracies for eight of the ten analytes were determined to be between 89.5 to 114.8% (CV≤7.4%, n=6). Using a quadrupole time-of-flight instrument, the isotopic distribution patterns of these carboxylates, extracted from a 13C-labeled mouse heart, were successfully determined by UPLC/MS with full-mass detection, indicating the possible utility of this analytical method for metabolic flux analysis. In summary, this work demonstrates an efficient chemical derivatization LC/MS method for metabolomic analysis of these key CCM intermediates in a biological matrix.

Self-assembling protein surface (S-) layers are common cell envelope structures of prokaryotes and have critical roles from structural maintenance to virulence. S-layers of Gram-positive bacteria are often attached through the interaction of S-layer homology (SLH) domain trimers with peptidoglycan-linked secondary cell wall polymers (SCWPs). Here we present an in-depth characterization of this interaction, with co-crystal structures of the three consecutive SLH domains from the Paenibacillus alvei S-layer protein SpaA with defined SCWP ligands. The most highly conserved SLH domain residue SLH-Gly29 is shown to enable a peptide backbone flip essential for SCWP binding in both biophysical and cellular experiments. Furthermore, we find that a significant domain movement mediates binding by two different sites in the SLH domain trimer, which may allow anchoring readjustment to relieve S-layer strain caused by cell growth and division.

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The human ABO(H) blood group A- and B-synthesizing glycosyltransferases GTA and GTB have been structurally characterized to high resolution in complex with their respective trisaccharide antigen products. These findings are particularly timely and relevant given the dearth of glycosyltransferase structures collected in complex with their saccharide reaction products. GTA and GTB utilize the same acceptor substrates, oligosaccharides terminating with α-l-Fucp-(1→2)-β-d-Galp-OR (where R is a glycolipid or glycoprotein), but use distinct UDP donor sugars, UDP-N-acetylgalactosamine and UDP-galactose, to generate the blood group A (α-l-Fucp-(1→2)[α-d-GalNAcp-(1→3)]-β-d-Galp-OR) and blood group B (α-l-Fucp-(1→2)[α-d-Galp-(1→3)]-β-d-Galp-OR) determinant structures, respectively. Structures of GTA and GTB in complex with their respective trisaccharide products reveal a conflict between the transferred sugar monosaccharide and the β-phosphate of the UDP donor. Mapping of the binding epitopes by saturation transfer difference NMR measurements yielded data consistent with the X-ray structural results. Taken together these data suggest a mechanism of product release where monosaccharide transfer to the H-antigen acceptor induces active site disorder and ejection of the UDP leaving group prior to trisaccharide egress.