Characterization of impurities in sisomicin and netilmicin by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry

Enhanced Production of Sisomicin in Micromonospora inyoensis by Protoplast Mutagenesis and Fermentation Optimization

Sisomicin is a broad-spectrum aminoglycoside antibiotic and is the precursor of netilmicin and plazomicin. However, the fermentation level of sisomicin is still low compared with other antibiotics, which restricts the application of sisomicin and its derivatives. In this study, to improve sisomicin production, breeding of high-yielding sisomicin strains was conducted with chemical mutagenesis using Micromonospora inyoensis OG-1 (titer, 1042 U·mL-1) as the starting strain. Protoplast preparation was conducted under optimal conditions, and protoplast mutagenesis was performed with a suitable concentration of diethyl sulfate. Subsequently, a high-yielding and genetically stable strain (H6-32) was obtained by screening, with a sisomicin titer of 1486 U·mL-1 (an increase of 42.6%). Finally, carbon and nitrogen sources were optimized to further improve sisomicin production, and a sisomicin titer of 1780 U·mL-1 was ultimately obtained by controlling the dissolved oxygen level at 30% in a 5-L fermenter, which to the best of our knowledge is the highest reported titer ever achieved by fermentation. Comparative genome analysis showed that a total of 13 genes in the genome of the mutant strain H6-32 were mutated compared to the original strain. This study not only provides a reference for further breeding of high-yielding strains and fermentation optimization, but also enhances our understanding of sisomicin production.

Analysis of impurities in vertilmicin sulfate by liquid chromatography ion-trap mass spectrometry

The characterization of impurities present in vertilmicin by liquid chromatography (LC) coupled with mass spectrometry (MS) is described. A reversed phase (RP)-LC method using a C18 column resistant to basic pH with an alkaline (pH 11) aqueous mobile phase was developed and coupled to MS with an electrospray ionization (ESI) source in the positive ion mode which provides MS(n) capability. In total, 18 impurities were detected in a commercial sample. Eleven impurities described in this work were newly identified.

[Determination of netilmicin in rat serum using high performance liquid chromatography and resonance Rayleigh scattering]

A method was developed for the direct determination of netilmicin in rat serum using high performance liquid chromatography and resonance Rayleigh scattering (RRS). The separation was carried out on a C18 column with the isocratic elution of the mixture of 20 mmol/L sodium acetate aqueous solution and methanol containing 0.22% trifluoroacetic acid (92:8, v/v). With the molecular recognition probe of pontamine sky blue, netilmicin formed an ion-association complex and enhanced the intensity of RRS. The RRS signal was detected by a commercial fluorescence detector at 365 nm of both excitation wavelength (lambda ex) and emission wavelength (lambda em). Under the optimized conditions, the limit of detection (LOD, S/N = 3) for the netilmicin was 0.7 mg/L. With the internal standard (IS) of tobramycin, a linear calibration curve ranged from 1.2 mg/L to 30 mg/L was obtained. The presented method can be used for the pharmacokinetics study of netilmicin in rat serum, and can be a new choice for the determination of aminoglycoside antibiotics in biological samples.

Analysis of impurities in streptomycin and dihydrostreptomycin by hydrophilic interaction chromatography/electrospray ionization quadrupole ion trap/time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Impurities in streptomycin (STR) and dihydrostreptomycin (DHS) were investigated by hydrophilic interaction chromatography/electrospray ionization quadrupole ion trap/time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HILIC/ESI-QIT/TOFMS). Samples were separated on a fused-core silica column (100 mmx2.1 mm i.d., particle size: 2.7 microm) with isocratic elution using 200 mM ammonium formate buffer (pH 4.5) and acetonitrile as mobile phase. Constant neutral loss survey in accurate mass measurement was carried out by QIT/TOFMS. Formulae, chemical structures of impurities in an STR sample were suggested with supporting results on the probable pathways of STR biosynthesis by Streptomyces griseus.