Cross-validation assessment revealed a bias between the two bioanalytical laboratories, which was confirmed with the clinical PK data between both pivotal studies using the different bioanalytical methods.
Nitroglycerin (NTG), an important cardiovascular agent, has been shown recently to activate matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) in biological systems, possibly leading to destabilization of atherosclerotic plaques. The chemical mechanism for this activation, particularly on the cysteine switch of the pro-form of MMP-9 (proMMP-9), has not been investigated and was examined here using nano-flow liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. In order to obtain high sequence coverage, two orthogonal enzymes (trypsin and GluC) were employed to digest the protein in parallel. Two complementary activation methods, collision-induced dissociation (CID) and electron-transfer dissociation (ETD), were employed for the identification of various modifications. A high-resolution Orbitrap analyzer was used to enable confident identification. Incubation of NTG with proMMP-9 resulted in the formation of an unstable thionitrate intermediate and oxidation of the cysteine switch to sulfinic and irreversible sulfonic acid derivatives. The unstable thionitrate modification was confirmed by both CID and ETD in the proteolytic peptides produced by both trypsin and GluC. Incubation of proMMP-9 with diethylenetriamine NONOate (a nitric oxide donor) led to sulfonic acid formation, but no observable sulfinic acid modification. Extensive tyrosine nitration by NTG was observed at Tyr-262, in close proximity to an oxidized Cys-256 of proMMP-9. The intramolecular interaction between these two residues toward NTG-induced oxidation was examined using a synthesized peptide representing the sequence in this domain, PWCSTTANYDTDDR, and the modification status was compared against an analog in which Cys was substituted by Ala. We observed a thionitrate product, extensive Cys oxidative modifications and enhanced tyrosine nitration with the Cys peptide but not with the Ala analog. Our results indicated that neighboring Cys and Tyr residues can facilitate each other's oxidation in the presence of NTG.
A simple and robust method using high-performance liquid chromatography with UV detection was developed and validated for the determination of six pyrrole-imidazole (PI) polyamides (HN.49, TGF-β1f, TGF-β1t, HN.50f, HN.50t, and LOX-1) in rat plasma. After the plasma proteins were precipitated with methanol containing phenacetin as an internal standard, the analytes were separated on a Luna C18 (2) (5 μm, 4.6 × 150 mm). Calibration curves were linear over the range of 0.5 to 200 μg/mL for HN.49, 0.25 to 200 μg/mL for TGF-β1f, TGF-β1t, HN.50t, and LOX-1, 1 to 200 μg/mL for HN.50f in rat plasma. The inter- and intraday precision were below 15%, and the accuracy was within 15% at the quality controls. The validated method was successfully applied to sample analysis for the pharmacokinetic study.
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