Tags: Analytical Seminar


Methods for Quantifying Toxic Preservatives in Hair Care Products

Despite formaldehyde being a known carcinogen, it is frequently used in cosmetic products as a preservative due to its antimicrobial properties. The FDA lists formaldehyde (FA) and formaldehyde releasers (FR) as common allergens in cosmetic products. According to the European Union, up to 2000 ppm of formaldehyde is permitted in cosmetics but quantifying free formaldehyde from formaldehyde releasers in cosmetics can be challenging.2 Formaldehyde…


Method Development for Unknown Compound Identification in Mass Spectrometry-based Untargeted Metabolomics

Metabolomics is the study of the collective small molecules within a biological system (cell, tissue or whole organism). The study of these small molecules (metabolites) gives a close measure of the phenotype, giving insight into an organism’s physiological and biochemical state at the time of sample collection. Thus, metabolomics has emerged as a highly attractive field employed to study normal physiology and changes in physiology due to…


2D Mass Spectrometry: A Novel Method to Analyze Complex Samples

Traditional tandem mass spectrometry, an analytical technique that isolates a precursor ion then fragments it to obtain structural information, is a method extensively used in analytical chemistry. Coupling different separation methods, like LC and GC, can help study complex mixtures that may be difficult with MS/MS alone. However, the isolation step requires a sufficient signal threshold of the precursors, preventing low signal ions that may…


Expanding the Toolbox for Structural Biology of Glycoproteins: Combining Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy and Mass Spectrometry

Glycosylation is a common post translational modification of proteins which adds a complex carbohydrate moiety to one or more sites of the protein. These modifications are found in a large proportion of human proteins and play important roles in organ development, cancer growth, and viral infection mechanisms. Despite their biomedical relevance, methods understanding molecular basis for glycoprotein functions is often hampered by the…


Analytical Approaches for Measuring the Safety of Biotherapeutic Drugs

Biotherapeutic drugs present new analytical challenges to the drug development and quality control process. Unlike traditional small molecule drugs where synthetic choices can be tightly controlled, biotherapeutic drugs rely on the integrity of host cell biosynthetic machinery to manufacture the drug. The host cells themselves also present an issue where the biotherapeutic product can be contaminated with trace amounts of host cell proteins (…


Regulation of G-Protein Signaling: Physical Studies on the Interaction of RGS10 and Calmodulin

Approximately 35% of all drugs currently in clinical use target a single family of proteins: G-Protein Coupled Receptors (GPCRs).[1] Due to the therapeutic importance of this class of proteins, it should be no surprise that proteins involved in regulating signaling initiated by GPCRs are gathering attention as potential drug targets. One such family of proteins is known as the Regulators of G-protein Signaling (RGS). These proteins function as…


Analytical Approaches for Measuring the Safety of Biotherapeutic Drugs

Biotherapeutic drugs present new analytical challenges to the drug development and quality control process. Unlike traditional small molecule drugs where synthetic choices can be tightly controlled, biotherapeutic drugs rely on the integrity of host cell biosynthetic machinery to manufacture the drug. The host cells themselves also present an issue where the biotherapeutic product can be contaminated with trace amounts of host cell proteins (…


Dynamic Isotopic Detection of Aminosugars With Glutamine (IDAWG) for Released Glycans and O-GlcNAc Modified Proteins

The Isotopic Detection of Aminosugars With Glutamine (IDAWG) method was originally developed for the glycomics field as a quantitative tool that takes advantage of the hexosamine biosynthetic pathway, isotopically labeling nitrogen-containing glycans in cell culture systems via the use of 15N-Gln1,2. Here, we present an adaptation of this method, Dynamic IDAWG, that allows for the calculation of half-lives and sialic acid remodeling for released…


A Switchable Interface with Stimuli-Responsive Polymer Brushes for Rare Cell Isolation and Cell Detachment

Polymer interface science is broadening its area to nanotechnologies, medicine, and biotechnology. The well-defined and controlled polymeric interfaces have been developed and provided a variety of surface properties by varying molecular characteristics of the polymer brushes1.  However, affinity-based sorting of colloidal particulates, such as cells and viruses, from a mixture of different particles is limited due to the quasi-irreversible…


Analysis of Microbial Volatile Organic Compounds Using Solid Phase Microextraction Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry

Microbial volatile organic compounds (MVOCs) like ketones, alcohols, terpenes, and terpene derivatives are primary and secondary metabolites of fungi and bacteria1 . Indoor environments with varying amounts of humidity, lack of light, oxygen, and carbon dioxide create the breeding ground for MVOCs. Prolonged human exposure to MVOCs has been directly associated with sick building syndrome (SBS), respiratory irritation, and asthma-like symptoms1…
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