Conformation of sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerol bound to a magnetically oriented membrane system

Fatty acid neutral losses observed in tandem mass spectrometry with collision-induced dissociation allows regiochemical assignment of sulfoquinovosyl-diacylglycerols

A full characterization of sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerols (SQDGs) in the lipid extract of spinach leaves has been achieved using liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization-linear quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometry (MS). Low-energy collision-induced dissociation tandem MS (MS/MS) of the deprotonated species [M - H](-) was exploited for a detailed study of sulfolipid fragmentation. Losses of neutral fatty acids from the acyl side chains (i.e. [M - H - RCOOH](-)) were found to prevail over ketene losses ([M - H - R'CHCO](-)) or carboxylates of long-chain fatty acids ([RCOO](-)), as expected for gas-phase acidity of SQDG ions. A new concerted mechanism for RCOOH elimination, based on a charge-remote fragmentation, is proposed. The preferential loss of a fatty acids molecule from the sn-1 position (i.e. [M - H - R(1)COOH](-)) of the glycerol backbone, most likely due to kinetic control of the gas-phase fragmentation process, was exploited for the regiochemical assignment of the investigated sulfolipids. As a result, 24 SQDGs were detected and identified in the lipid extract of spinach leaves, their number and variety being unprecedented in the field of plant sulfolipids. Moreover, the prevailing presence of a palmitic acyl chain (16:0) on the glycerol sn-2 position of spinach SQDGs suggests a prokaryotic or chloroplastic path as the main route for their biosynthesis.

Monolayer membranes and bilayer vesicles characterized by α- and β-anomer of sulfoquinovosyldiacyglycerol (SQDG)

Physicochemical properties of 1,2-di-O-stearoyl-3-O-(6-deoxy-6-sulfo-alpha-D-glucopyranosyl)-sn-glycerol (alpha-SQDG-C(18:0)) and 1,2-di-O-stearoyl-3-O-(6-deoxy-6-sulfo-beta-D-glucopyranosyl)-sn-glycerol (beta-SQDG-C(18:0)) in monolayer and bilayer membranes were examined. Surface pressure measurements in monolayer membranes indicated the molecular area of beta-SQDG-C(18:0) to be slightly smaller than that of alpha-SQDG-C(18:0). In bilayer membranes, the phase transition temperature and the enthalpy of beta-SQDG-C(18:0) were higher than those of alpha-SQDG-C(18:0), while the trapping efficiency of beta-SQDG-C(18:0) vesicles was lower. The results suggested tighter packing with beta-SQDG-C(18:0) than alpha-SQDG-C(18:0), due to differences in the head group stereochemistry. High-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization ion trap mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS) data and computational modeling studies provided supporting evidence for morphological differences. In both monolayer and bilayer membranes, the affinity of beta-SQDG-C(18:0) with cholesterol was greater than that of alpha-SQDG-C(18:0), again due to the differences in head group properties. Turbidity measurement and microscopic examination of alpha- and beta-SQDG-C(18:0)/cholesterol mixtures confirmed formation of large vesicles. The addition of cholesterol to SQDG-C(18:0) optimized membrane formation and stabilized its structure.

Sulfonoglycolipids from the lichenized basidiomycete Dictyonema glabratum: isolation, NMR, and ESI-MS approaches

Two distinct sulfonoglycolipid fractions were isolated from the basidiolichen Dictyonema glabratum by chromatography on Diethylaminoethyl (DEAE)-Sepharose, which resulted in rapid elution, followed by partition between aqueous sulfuric acid and an ethyl acetate-methanol-chloroform mixture and the content of the organic layer chromatographed of a column of silicic acid. The products were examined by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy in their native rather than their acetylated forms, as in previous investigations. Each was methanolyzed to give the same methyl glycoside, Me-G. On electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), it provided a pseudomolecular ion at m/z 303 in the positive-ion mode and a molecular ion at m/z 257 with a daughter ion at m/z 146 in the negative-ion mode, showing the presence of a sulfonate group S-linked to a hexosyl ring. An exclusively alpha-glucopyranosyl configuration was indicated by (1)H, (1)H correlation spectroscopy (COSY) and (1)H, (1)H total correlation spectroscopy (TOCSY). S-substitution occurred at CH(2)-6, because a high-field (13)C signal at delta 52.6 gave an inverted distortionless enhancement by polarization transfer (DEPT) signal and (1)H, (3)C heteronuclear multiple quantum coherence (HMQC) showed correlation with two H-6 signals. This 6-sulfono-alpha-quinovopyranoside group was present in the glycolipid fractions, O-alpha-D-Quip-6-sulfono-(1'<-->1)-2,3-diacyl-D-glycerol (polar fraction 1a; PF1a) and O-alpha-D-Quip-6-sulfono-(1'<-->1)-2- or -3-monoacyl-D-glycerol (polar fraction 1b; PF1b), the monoacyl derivatives not having been previously completely characterized in other systems. All components are typical of plant glycolipids. The most abundant fatty acid ester in PF1a and PF1b was C(16:0). Other esters present in PF1a were C(14:0), C(17:0), C(18:0), C(18:1) (oleic), C(20:0), C(21:0), and C(24:0), in contrast with C(14:0), C(17:0), C(18:0), and C(20:0) in PF1b. HMQC and TOCSY data can be used as fingerprints for detection of glycosylacylglycerides and sulfonoglycolipids and the positive ESI-MS ions at m/z 329 and 271 for identification of the latter.

Characterization of lyso-galactolipids, C-2 and C-3 O-acyl trigalactosylglycerol isomers, obtained from the lichenized fungus Dictyonema glabratum

A mixture of two lyso isomers of a galactolipid was obtained from Dictyonema glabratum. Aqueous hydrolysis gave rise to galactose and glycerol in a 3:1 molar ratio. ESI-MS spectroscopy gave, in the positive-ion mode, a pseudomolecular ion at m/z 839 and daughter ions with m/z 677, 600, 515 and 353, suggesting three galactosyl units linked to a glycerol moiety, substituted by one O-acyl group. 1D and 2D NMR experiments were used to characterize the glycolipid, and HMQC examination showed three anomeric signals, corresponding to two alpha-Galp and one beta-Galp residue liked to glycerol. The glycolipid structure was shown to be O-alpha-D-Galp-(1-->6)-O-alpha-D-Galp-(1-->6)-O-beta-D-Galp-(1<-->1)-2- and -3-monoacyl-D-glycerol, the latter structures not having been previously found in nature. The fatty acid composition was determined by GC-MS of derived methyl esters: that of palmitic acid C(16:0) was the most abundant, although the presence of C(12:0), C(14:0), C(16:1) and C(18:0) esters was observed.

Delta-opiate DPDPE in magnetically oriented phospholipid micelles: binding and arrangement of aromatic pharmacophores

D-Penicillamine(2,5)-enkephalin (DPDPE) is a potent opioid peptide that exhibits a high selectivity for the delta-opiate receptors. This zwitterionic peptide has been shown, by pulsed-field gradient 1H NMR diffusion studies, to have significant affinity for a zwitterionic phospholipid bilayer. The bilayer lipid is in the form of micelles composed of dihexanoylphosphatidylcholine (DHPC) and dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC) mixtures, where the DMPC forms the bilayer structure. At high lipid concentration (25% w/w) these micelles orient in the magnetic field of an NMR spectrometer. The resulting 1H-13C dipolar couplings and chemical shift changes in the natural abundance 13C resonances for the Tyr and Phe aromatic rings were used to characterize the orientations in the bilayer micelles of these two key pharmacophores.