Methylhexahydrophthalic anhydride adducted albumin tryptic peptides in nasal lavage fluid

Methylhexahydrophthalic anhydride (MHHPA) is a reactive, low molecular weight chemical used in products such as plastics, paints, and electronic components. Exposure to MHHPA may lead to work-related airway diseases such as rhinitis, conjunctivitis, and asthma. Twelve subjects employed at a plant manufacturing electrical capacitors using MHHPA were included in this study. Nasal lavages were collected from subjects before work Monday morning and after work Tuesday afternoon. The levels of MHHPA adducted to serum albumin were analyzed with a straightforward work-up method. The samples were trypsinated before being analyzed with a liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. The mass spectrometer was run using selected reaction monitoring for six adducted peptides. Also, some biomarkers of effect (albumin, total protein, eosinophil cationic protein, and tryptase) were analyzed in nasal lavages. Furthermore, the metabolite MHHP acid in urine after work on Tuesday was analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Symptoms from the airways and the eyes and sensitization were registered. The main result of this study is that protein adducts can be analyzed in vivo after low occupational exposures to MHHPA. The results also show a correlation between adducted peptides and albumin in nasal lavage. Furthermore, there may be a difference in the potential to induce hyperresponsiveness between adducts bound to different amino acids.

Comparative time-dependent analysis of potential inflammation biomarkers in lymphoma-bearing SJL mice

SJL mice colonized with RcsX lymphoma cells undergo a rapid inflammatory response associated with biological and physiological effects including increased nitric oxide production and mutations in spleen DNA. By 2 weeks postcolonization, these changes were accompanied by both up- and down-regulation of a number of plasma proteins. In the experiments reported here, plasma from individual SJL mice was analyzed at several time-points over the 2-week period to determine if there were sets of proteins whose expression varied in concert and thus might serve as early biomarkers for inflammation-related disorders. Samples were collected just prior to injection of the RcsX cells and then after 4, 8, and 12 days. Albumin and immunoglobulins were depleted, and the samples were resolved by 1D gel electrophoresis. The gels were cut into 20 slices, and the proteins were digested in-gel with trypsin. The digests were treated with iTRAQ reagents and then analyzed using LC/MS/MS. The resulting data were processed with two software packages, that is, ProQuant and Spectrum Mill, and then subjected to K-means cluster analysis (K = 4). The four clusters revealed a set of highly up-regulated proteins, a set of progressively up-regulated proteins, a set with no major changes, and a set that declined. The first cluster included haptoglobin and serum amyloid A; the second included groups with several functions including protease inhibition, cell motility, and transport. The iTRAQ results for a selection of the up-regulated proteins, including haptoglobin, hemopexin, serum amyloid P component, and ceruloplasmin, were confirmed with Western blots. Prominent down-regulated proteins included esterase-1, paraoxonase, and alpha-2-macroglobulin. Approximately 50% of the up-regulated proteins are canonical acute phase proteins, while the remainder are regulated by the Nrf2 transcription factor.

Adducts between nucleophilic amino acids and hexahydrophthalic anhydride, a structure inducing both types I and IV allergy

Haptens causing type I allergy have been shown to predominantly form lysine adducts in the carrier protein, while many haptens giving rise to type IV allergy preferentially form adducts with cysteine residues. Hexahydrophthalic anhydride derivatives are strong sensitizers capable of inducing allergic rhinitis, asthma and urticaria (type I allergy) and allergic contact dermatitis (type IV allergy). The ability of hexahydrophthalic anhydride (HHPA) to form adducts with nucleophilic amino acids and a model peptide in vitro is presented. Adduct formation was monitored by high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet light/vis detection (LC-UV/vis) and high-performance liquid chromatography with mass spectrometric detection (LC/MS). The characterization was obtained by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) and mass spectrometry (MS and MS/MS). It was found that HHPA formed adducts with N(alpha)-acetylated lysine and cysteine and the non-acetylated alpha-amino group of proline and, to some extent, also with other nucleophilic amino acids. The adducts with lysine and proline were chemically stable. Addition of one HHPA to a model carrier peptide with all important nucleophilic amino acid residues showed N-terminal proline to be the major site of reaction. The addition of a second hapten gave a lysine adduct, but a minor cysteine adduct was also found. The cysteine-HHPA adducts were shown to be chemically unstable and participated in further reactions with lysine forming lysine-HHPA adducts. The results will be useful for understanding the formation of HHPA-protein adducts with the capability of being markers of exposure, and also to a deeper understanding of the chemical structures causing types I and IV allergy.

Characterization of adducts formed between human serum albumin and the butadiene metabolite epoxybutanediol

1,3-Butadiene (BD) has been classified as a potential human carcinogen. It occurs in the environment as well as in industrial settings. In humans, BD is readily metabolized to reactive epoxides (e.g. 1,2-epoxy-3,4-butanediol). In this study, conjugates between human serum albumin (HSA) and EBD were synthesized (molar ratios of 1:600, 1:1 and 1:0.1; HSA/EBD) under physiological conditions. The 1:600 conjugate and a blank HSA sample were digested with trypsin to obtain specific peptides that were fractionated by preparative liquid chromatography (LC). The fractions were analyzed using nanoelectrospray quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (nanoES-QqTOFMS). Adducted HSA tryptic peptides were identified and the adducted amino acid residues were identified by sequence analysis based on tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). A total of 26 2,3,4-trihydroxybutyl (THB) adducts were identified on 23 tryptic peptides in the HSA/EBD conjugate. The adducted amino acids were the N-terminal aspartic acid residue, six glutamic acid residues, five histidine residues and 14 lysine residues. Results from the nanoES-QqTOFMS experiments were used to set up a more sensitive liquid chromatographic/mass spectrometric (LC/MS) analysis using selected reaction monitoring. Eight of the adducted peptides could be detected in tryptic digests of the 1:0.1 HSA/EBD conjugate.

Determination of hexahydrophthalic anhydride adducts to human serum albumin

Hexahydrophthalic anhydride (HHPA) is a highly sensitizing industrial chemical that is known to covalently bind to endogenous proteins. The aim of this study was to determine the binding sites of HHPA to human serum albumin (HSA). Conjugates between HSA and HHPA, at two different molar ratios, were synthesized under physiological conditions. The conjugates were digested with trypsin and Pronase E to obtain specific peptides and amino acids, which were separated by liquid chromatography (LC). Fractions containing modified peptides were detected through quantification of hydrolysable HHPA using LC coupled to a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer with electrospray ionization. Modified residues in albumin were identified by sequence analyses using nanoelectrospray quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. A total of 36 HHPA adducts were found in the HSA-HHPA conjugate with 10 times molar excess of added HHPA. In the conjugate with a molar ratio of 1:0.1 of added HHPA, seven HHPA adducts were found bound to Lys(137) (domain IB), Lys(190), Lys(199) and Lys(212) (domain IIA), Lys(351) (domain IIB), and Lys(432) and Lys(436) (domain IIIA). Moreover, several of these adducted albumin peptides were detected in nasal lavage fluid from one volunteer exposed to HHPA. The binding sites of HHPA to HSA have been determined, thus identifying potential allergenic chemical structures. This knowledge generates the possibility of developing methods for the biological monitoring of HHPA exposure by analysing tryptic peptides including these binding sites.

Correlations between air levels of hexahydrophthalic anhydride (HHPA) and HHPA-adducted albumin tryptic peptides in nasal lavage fluid from experimentally exposed volunteers

Organic acid anhydrides (OAAs) are low molecular weight, reactive compounds extensively used in industry. Exposure to these compounds may lead to allergic symptoms such as rhinitis and asthma. It is important to develop better and more informative methods for assessment of exposure to OAAs. The aim of this study was to develop a method for analysis of specific hexahydrophthalic anhydride (HHPA)-adducted tryptic peptides of human serum albumin (HSA) in nasal lavage (NAL). Furthermore, these peptides were evaluated as biomarkers of exposure. The proteins in the NAL samples were reduced, alkylated and digested with trypsin and the obtained peptides were analyzed using liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry. The total amount of hydrolyzable HHPA in an HHPA-HSA conjugate was used for calibration. A deuterium-labeled HHPA-HSA conjugate was used as internal standard. Five volunteers were exposed to 10, 40 and 80 microg/m3 of HHPA in an exposure chamber and NAL samples were collected before and after exposure. Acceptable precisions of the assay at 13-14% were found for three adducted peptides. The mean levels of these three peptides for the five subjects ranged between 5-22, 15-75 and 33-125 pmol/mL NAL for the exposures at 10, 40 and 80 microg/m3, respectively. High correlations between air levels and the measured peptides were found on an individual basis but there were large inter-individual differences ranging between 63 and 110% for the three peptides. The large differences remained after protein adjustments. It was possible to detect exposures below 10 microg/m3 with the method. Thus, these adducted peptides may be used as biomarkers of exposure, which may better estimate the risk than previous biomarkers developed for OAAs.

Mass spectrometric characterization of human hemoglobin adducts formed in vitro by hexahydrophthalic anhydride

Primary structural information of anhydride binding to endogenous proteins is of interest in order to determine the mechanism causing the type-I allergy seen in many anhydride-exposed workers. In addition, studies on specific protein adducts may generate new methods for biological monitoring. In this study, the binding of hexahydrophthalic anhydride (HHPA) to human hemoglobin (Hb) in vitro was investigated. The in vitro synthesized conjugates were analyzed using a hybrid quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometer (Q-TOF) with electrospray ionization (ESI) to determine the number of HHPA adducts per Hb molecule. Structural information on the locations of the adducts was obtained through nanospray Q-TOF, liquid chromatography-ESI mass spectrometric analysis, and gas chromatography/mass spectrometric analysis of Pronase E and tryptic digests. Up to six adducts were found on the alpha-chain and five on the beta-chain. The HHPA-adducts were localized to the N-terminal valine of the alpha- and beta-chains of Hb and to lysine residues at positions 7, 11, 16, and 40 of the alpha-chain and 8, 17, 59, 66, and 144 of the beta-chain. These results will constitute a basis for studies on structure-activity relationships as well as for development of methods for biological monitoring of acid anhydrides.