The common derivatization method of primary amino groups by 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonate (TNBS) was applied to the detection of free adducts of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs), in combination with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry-multiple reaction monitoring (LC-MS/MS-MRM). The proposed TNBS-MS method provided a surprisingly significant improvement of the detection of AGE-free adducts (e.g., by a factor of >1000 for methylglyoxal-derived hydroimidazolone) with a detection limit of 1.0 nM (10 fmol/injection volume), which was due to the high ionization efficiency of the derived trinitrophenol moiety and its hydrophobicity. With the aid of stable-isotope-labeled internal standard (MG-H1-d3), the convenient TNBS method that allowed the derivation of AGE-free adducts bearing amino groups under mild reaction conditions (30 mM, pH 8.5, 30 min, 30 °C) also permitted successive detection and quantification of five typical AGE-free adducts at nanomolar levels in rat plasma (50 μL) with high reproducibility (2-9% of RSD) and recovery (93-113%), using LC-MS/MS-MRM.

During maturation, megakaryocytes (MKs) express β1-tubulin (TUBB1) and rearrange their microtubule components to enlarge, form proplatelets, and eventually release platelets. The development of a platform to identify in vitro conditions that would efficiently promote MK development could potentially enable large-scale platelet production. Here, we show that an immortalized MK cell line (imMKCL) genetically modified to express the β1-tubulin-Venus reporter provides a practical system to efficiently monitor the in vitro production of platelet-like particles (PLPs). The Venus transgene was inserted downstream of the locus in imMKCLs using CRISPR/Cas9, and the expression was visualized by Venus fluorescence intensity. This imMKCL reporter line was then used for high-throughput drug screening. We identified several compounds that significantly improved the efficiency of PLP production in vitro under feeder-free conditions and showed a significant tendency to recover platelets in vivo in a mouse thrombocytopenia model induced by anti-GPIbα antibody administration. Interestingly, most of these compounds, including a WNT signaling pathway inhibitor, Wnt-C59, antagonized the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) to increase PLP production, confirming the crucial role of AhR inhibition in MK maturation. Consistently, small interfering RNA treatment against AhR increased the Venus intensity and PLP production. TCS 359, an FLT3 inhibitor, significantly increased PLP production independently of FLT3 or AhR. This study highlights the usefulness of the β1-tubulin reporter MK line as a useful tool to study the mechanisms underlying thrombopoiesis and to identify novel inducers of ex vivo platelet production.

Prediabetes, typically defined as impaired glucose tolerance and/or impaired fasting blood glucose, is a high-risk state of developing diabetes. The association of diabetes-related metabolites with prediabetes has not been investigated intensively. This study aimed to get insights into the metabolic behaviors of some typical diabetes-related metabolites in plasma of male Spontaneously Diabetic Torii (SDT) rats during pathogenic progress of diabetes and to assess in vivo if the variation in these metabolites related to the progression of prediabetic stage. To address this question, SDT rats and Sprague Dawley (SD) rats as control were maintained from the age of 7 to 25 weeks. Five typical advanced glycation end products (AGEs) residue of plasma protein and their free adducts were determined by liquid chromatography with tandem mass detection over the duration of the investigation. The SDT rats exhibited impaired glucose tolerance since the age of 12 weeks and developed diabetes with significantly elevated fasting glucose levels after 22 weeks. At the prediabetic stage (12–21 weeks), no significant differences were observed on AGE-free adducts levels of SDT rats compared with SD rats. However, methylglyoxal-derived hydroimidazolone (MG-H1) residue contents of plasma protein were significantly elevated in SDT rats at the age of 16 weeks, whereas other AGE residues of plasma protein did not show marked difference. The present study has revealed significant increase in MG-H1 residue content of plasma protein at the prediabetic stage of a spontaneously diabetic rat model, irrespective of unaltered fasting blood glucose and constant plasma levels of other AGEs.

Intrauterine fetal growth restriction (IUGR) and death (IUFD) are both serious problems in the perinatal medicine. Fetal vasculopathy is currently considered to account for a pathogenic mechanism of IUGR and IUFD. We previously demonstrated that an innate immune receptor, the nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-1 (Nod1), contributed to the development of vascular inflammations in mice at postnatal stages. However, little is known about the deleterious effects of activated Nod1 signaling on embryonic growth and development. We report that administration of FK565, one of the Nod1 ligands, to pregnant C57BL/6 mice induced IUGR and IUFD. Mass spectrometry analysis revealed that maternally injected FK565 was distributed to the fetal tissues across placenta. In addition, maternal injection of FK565 induced robust increases in the amounts of CCL2, IL-6, and TNF proteins as well as NO in maternal, placental and fetal tissues. Nod1 was highly expressed in fetal vascular tissues, where significantly higher levels of CCL2 and IL-6 mRNAs were induced with maternal injection of FK565 than those in other tissues. Using Nod1-knockout mice, we verified that both maternal and fetal tissues were involved in the development of IUGR and IUFD. Furthermore, FK565 induced upregulation of genes associated with immune response, inflammation, and apoptosis in fetal vascular tissues. Our data thus provided new evidence for the pathogenic role of Nod1 in the development of IUGR and IUFD at the maternal-fetal interface.

The purpose of this study was to gain insight into the production behavior of free adducts of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) in Wistar rats under acute hyperglycemic conditions. Five AGE-free adducts as well as their precursors (i.e., highly reactive carbonyl intermediates of methylglyoxal and glyoxal) in rat plasma were quantitatively determined at greater than nanomolar levels using the liquid chromatography/ tandem mass spectrometry method coupled with 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonate and 2,3-diaminonaphthalene derivatization techniques. An oral glucose (2 g/kg dose) tolerance test to 10-week-old Wistar rats provided evidence that the plasma levels of diabetes-related metabolites did not change acutely within 120 min, irrespective of increasing blood glucose levels.