[Application of Coagulant in the Analysis of Lycorine and Galanthamine in Processed Foods].

Analytical method by HPLC and LC-MS/MS for determining lycorine and galanthamine in processed food was newly developed. In this method, coagulant which has never been used in food analysis was applied on cleanup process. With coagulant approach, removal of interfering substances on determination for analytes was easily achieved. The method using HPLC showed recovery of 95.4-102.9% on both analytes with repeatability of less than 2.9% and reproducibility of less than 2.9%. The method using LC-MS/MS showed recovery of 97.4-107.6% with repeatability of less than 5.7% and reproducibility of less than 5.7%. On HPLC method, limit of quantification for lycorine was 0.004 g/kg and that of galanthamine was 0.006 g/kg. On LC-MS/MS method, limit of quantification for lycorine was 0.0008 g/kg and that of galanthamine was 0.0005 g/kg.

[Analytical method for carbamate pesticides in processed foods by LC/MS/MS].

A rapid analytical method for the simultaneous determination of carbamate pesticides in processed foods was established by liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS). The pesticides were extracted from samples with acetonitrile using accelerated solvent extract equipment, except for the fine powder type spices, which were extracted in an ultrasonic bath. The crude extract was cleaned up with a multi-solvent GPC column (Shodex Asahipak GF-310 HQ) using acetonitrile as a mobile phase. The eluent from the column at the retention time between 13 to 18 min was concentrated under nitrogen gas and dissolved in a mixture of acetonitrile-water-0.2 mol/L ammonium formate buffer pH 6.0 (10 : 9 : 1). An aliquot was injected into the LC/MS/MS using electrospray ionization (ESI) with acquisition in the positive mode. The recoveries of 29 kinds of pesticide from dried fruits (raisin, prune and mango) and spices (turmeric, masala, sage, thyme and red pepper) fortified at levels of 0.1 and 0.01 microg/g were mostly in the range of 50 to 150% and those from soybean paste and soy sauce fortified at 0.01 microg/g were 46.9 to 122.6% (C.V. 3.8 to 37.6%), except for 4 kinds of pesticide. The determination limits (S/N> or =10) corresponded to 0.001 to 0.05 mug/g of the pesticides in red pepper.

[Simultaneous determination of veterinary drugs in livestock foods and seafoods using liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry].

A simultaneous determination of veterinary drugs in livestock food and seafood using liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) was developed. Veterinary drugs were extracted with 95% acetonitrile. The solution was passed through a Florisil column, and the solvent was replaced with phosphate buffer. The extract was charged on a Sep-Pak Plus C(18) mini-column and divided into 40% methanol eluate fraction and 70% acetonitrile eluate fraction. Test solutions were analyzed by LC/MS/MS with gradient elution. By using this method, 37 kinds of veterinary drugs were obtained with over 60% recovery, and quantitation was possible in cattle muscle, egg and fish. This method was inapplicable to 28 kinds of veterinary drugs. Although quantitation was not achieved, 42 other kinds of veterinary drugs can be screened. Since the limit of quantitation for this method is less than the provisional limit in general, it is useful as a screening method in residual analysis of veterinary drugs.

Asialoganglioside enhances the efficiency of gene transfection mediated by cationic liposomes with a cationic cholesterol derivative.

We investigated the transfection efficiency mediated by asialoganglioside-containing cationic liposomes. Previously we reported that monosialoganglioside GM(1) (GM(1a)) enhanced transfection efficiency. In this study, we investigated the effects of sialic acid in gangliosides on transfection efficiency. Two mammalian culture cell lines HeLa and HepG2 were transfected with luciferase plasmids (pGL3) using cationic liposomes which contain monosialoganglioside GM(1) (GM(1a)) or its asialic counterpart, asialoganglioside GM(1) (GA(1)). Both GM(1a) and GA(1) enhanced the efficiency of transfection mediated by cationic liposomes, and GA(1) exhibited higher efficiency than GM(1a) in both cell lines. Transfection efficiency of ganglioside-containing liposomes was also assessed by the effects of antisense oligonucleotides (AS-ODN) for bcl-2 gene, which suppresses apoptotic cell death. Western blotting analysis revealed that the expression of Bcl-2 was decreased by AS-ODN, and the reduction of protein expression in cells treated with GA(1)-containing liposomes was more remarkable than that with GM(1a)-containing liposomes. Furthermore, the induction rate of apoptosis was higher in cells treated with AS-ODN with GA(1)-containing liposomes. Together with the results obtained by luciferase assay mentioned above, the removal of sialic acid from ganglioside causes the enhancement of efficiency of transfection mediated by cationic liposomes.

Remarkable induction of apoptosis in cancer cells by a novel cationic liposome complexed with a bcl-2 antisense oligonucleotide.

We reported recently a novel cationic cholesterol derivative with a hydroxyethylamino head group, cholesteryl-3beta-carboxyamidoethylene-N-hydroxyethylamine (I) for liposome-mediated gene transfection [FEBS Lett., 408 (1997) 232]. In the present paper we have studied whether this novel cationic liposome is prominent in nature to suppress cell growth of human cancer cells. Bcl-2 antisense phosphorothioate oligonucleotides (AS-ODNs) were complexed with the cationic liposomes with the derivative (I) and they were introduced into human cervix epithelial carcinoma cell lines HeLa, and mouse fibroblast NIH3T3 cells. An AS-ODNs targeting/bcl-2 gene induced probably apoptosis (including necrosis in some cases) in HeLa and NIH3T3 cells, however, nonsense oligonucleotides (NS-ODNs) corresponding to a scrambled-sequence control hardly induced apoptosis. Induction of apoptosis was much greater than that by commercially available DC-Chol liposomes. Fluorescence intensities of FITC-conjugated bcl-2 AS-ODNs were specifically found in the nucleus. The intensity of the AS-ODNs was mostly consistent with the amounts of Bcl-2 proteins observed by Western blot analysis in the target cells. The results showed the possibility that this new cationic cholesterol derivative might be very promising to be used for liposome-mediated gene targeting in vitro and in vivo.