Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of DNA: optimization of protocols for isolation and analysis of DNA from human blood

Simultaneous electrochemical determination of DNA nucleobases using AgNPs embedded covalent organic framework

An efficient electrochemical biosensor has been developed for the simultaneous evaluation of DNA bases using AgNPs-embedded covalent organic framework (COF). The COF (p-Phenylenediamine and terephthalaldehyde) was synthesized by reflux (DMF; 150 °C; 12 h) and the nanoparticles were embedded from the aqueous solutions of AgNO₃ and NaBH₄. The nanocomposite-modified COF was confirmed by spectral, microscopic, and electrochemical techniques. The nanocomposite material was deposited on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) and the redox behavior of AgNPs was confirmed by cyclic voltammetry. The electrocatalytic activities of DNA bases were analyzed by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) in a physiological environment (PBS; pH = 7.0) based on simple and easy-to-use electrocatalyst. The AgNPs-COF/GCE showed well-defined anodic peak currents for the bases guanine (+ 0.63 V vs. Ag/AgCl), adenine (+ 0.89 V vs. Ag/AgCl), thymine (+ 1.10 V vs. Ag/AgCl), and cytosine (+ 1.26 V vs. Ag/AgCl) in a mixture as well as individuals with respect to the conventional, COF, and AgNPs/GCEs. The AgNPs-COF/GCE showed linear concentration range of DNA bases from 0.2-1000 µM (guanine; (G)), 0.1-500 µM (adenine (A)), 0.25-250 µM (thymine (T)) and 0.15-500 µM (cytosine (C)) and LOD of 0.043, 0.056, 0.062, and 0.051 µM (S/N = 3), respectively. The developed sensor showed reasonable selectivity, reproducibility (RSD = 1.53 ± 0.04%-2.58 ± 0.02% (n = 3)), and stability (RSD = 1.22 ± 0.06%-2.15 ± 0.04%; n = 3) over 5 days of storage) for DNA bases. Finally, AgNPs-COF/GCE was used for the determination of DNA bases in human blood serum, urine and saliva samples with good recoveries (98.60-99.11%, 97.80-99.21%, and 98.69-99.74%, respectively).

Multiregional analysis of global 5-methylcytosine and 5-hydroxymethylcytosine throughout the progression of Alzheimer's disease

Epigenetic modifications to cytosine are known to alter transcriptional states and deregulate gene expression in cancer, embryonic development, and most recently in neurodegeneration. To test the hypothesis that global levels of cytosine modification are altered throughout the progression of Alzheimer's disease, 5-methylcytosine (5-mC) and 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5-hmC) were quantified using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and stable labeled internal standards of cytosine, 5-mC, and 5-hmC. Cytosine modifications were quantified in DNA extracted from tissue specimens of four brain regions (cerebellum, inferior parietal lobe, superior and middle temporal gyrus, and hippocampus/parahippocampal gyrus) of cognitively normal control (NC) subjects and subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), preclinical Alzheimer's disease (PCAD), late onset Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). Repeated measures analyses of the data show significant alterations in 5-mC and 5-hmC in early stages of Alzheimer's disease (PCAD and MCI), as well as FTLD and DLB subjects, across multiple regions of the brain. These data suggest alterations in epigenetic regulation of genes may play an early role in the progression of AD as well as other types of neurodegeneration.

Effects of a triplex mixture of Peganum harmala, Rhus coriaria, and Urtica dioica aqueous extracts on metabolic and histological parameters in diabetic rats

CONTEXT

Several therapeutic effects such as antioxidant and blood glucose-lowering activities have been reported for Peganum harmala L (Zygophyllaceae) (PH) seeds, Rhus coriaria L (Anacardiaceae) (RC) fruits, and Urtica dioica L (Urticaceae) (UD) leaves.

OBJECTIVE

This study investigates the effects of a triplex mixture (1:1:1) of these medicinal plants on metabolic and histological parameters in diabetic rats.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Aqueous extracts of PH, RC and UD were administered as either monotherapy or in combination at a final dose of 200 mg/kg to alloxan-induced diabetic rats by daily gavage. Biochemical parameters including blood glucose, liver function-related enzymes, lipid profile, and creatinine were estimated by spectrophotometric methods. Tissues from the liver and kidney stained with hematoxylin/eosin were histologically examined. The results obtained from the exposure groups were compared to either healthy or diabetic control groups.

RESULTS

Compared with the diabetic control rats, all aqueous extracts (ED50 = 11.5 ± 2.57 mg/ml) led to significant decreases in the levels of ALP (1.39-2.23-fold, p < 0.05), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (1.79-3.26-fold, p < 0.05), and blood glucose (1.27-4.16-fold, p < 0.05). The serum concentrations of TG was decreased only by treatment with UD and triplex mixture (1.25- and 1.20-fold, respectively, p < 0.05). Among the studied parameters, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), LDL-C, TG, and creatinine recovered to healthy control levels after 4 weeks of treatment with the extract mixture.

CONCLUSION

This study showed that PH, RC, and UD extracts, especially their combination, had significant antidiabetic, hypolipidemic, and liver and renal damage recovering effects.

Nucleic acid oxidation: an early feature of Alzheimer's disease

Studies of oxidative damage during the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD) suggest its central role in disease pathogenesis. To investigate levels of nucleic acid oxidation in both early and late stages of AD, levels of multiple base adducts were quantified in nuclear and mitochondrial DNA from the superior and middle temporal gyri (SMTG), inferior parietal lobule (IPL), and cerebellum (CER) of age-matched normal control subjects, subjects with mild cognitive impairment, preclinical AD, late-stage AD, and non-AD neurological disorders (diseased control; DC) using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Median levels of multiple DNA adducts in nuclear and mitochondrial DNA were significantly (p ≤ 0.05) elevated in the SMTG, IPL, and CER in multiple stages of AD and in DC subjects. Elevated levels of fapyguanine and fapyadenine in mitochondrial DNA suggest a hypoxic environment early in the progression of AD and in DC subjects. Overall, these data suggest that oxidative damage is an early event not only in the pathogenesis of AD but is also present in neurodegenerative diseases in general. Levels of oxidized nucleic acids in nDNA and mtDNA were found to be significantly elevated in mild cognitive impairment (MCI), preclinical Alzheimer's disease (PCAD), late-stage AD (LAD), and a pooled diseased control group (DC) of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) subjects compared to normal control (NC) subjects. Nucleic acid oxidation peaked early in disease progression and remained elevated. The study suggests nucleic acid oxidation is a general event in neurodegeneration.

Lack of effect of acute oral ingestion of vitamin C on oxidative stress, arterial stiffness or blood pressure in healthy subjects

Vitamin C is a potent antioxidant in vitro and has been reported to act as a vasodilator, possibly by increasing nitric oxide bioavailability. This study examined the antioxidant and vascular effects of a single large oral dose of vitamin C in 26 healthy human volunteers. Haemodynamic and oxidative DNA and lipid damage markers were measured for 8 h following an oral dose of 2 g vitamin C or placebo. Vitamin C had no effect on vasodilation (measured by augmentation index (mean change=0.04%, 90% CI=- 2.20% to 2.28%) or forearm blood flow (-0.19%/min (-0.68, 0.30)), in comparison to placebo) or on several markers of oxidative stress including DNA base oxidation products in blood cells, 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8O HdG) in urine (0.068 (-0.009, 0.144)) or urinary or plasma total F(2)-isoprostanes (-0.005 ng/ml (-0.021, 0.010), -0.153 ng/mg (-0.319, 0.014), respectively).

Effect of dietary quercetin on oxidative DNA damage in healthy human subjects

The effect of dietary intake of flavonols (predominantly quercetin) on oxidative DNA damage was studied in thirty-six healthy human subjects (sixteen men, twenty women). The study was a randomised crossover study, comprising two 14 d treatments of either a low-flavonol (LF) or high-flavonol (HF) diet with a 14 d wash-out period between treatments. Subjects were asked to avoid foods containing flavonols, flavones and flavanols during the LF dietary treatment period and to consume one 150 g onion (Allium cepa) cake (containing 89·7 mg quercetin) and one 300 ml cup of black tea (containing 1·4 mg quercetin) daily during the HF dietary treatment. A 7 d food diary was kept during each dietary period and blood samples were taken after each dietary treatment. Products of oxidative damage to DNA bases were measured in DNA from leucocytes. The study had more than 95 % power to detect a change of 20 % in DNA damage products Plasma vitamin C and plasma quercetin concentrations were also measured. No significant differences in intake of macronutrients or assessed micronutrients, measured DNA base damage products, or plasma vitamin C were found between the HF and LF dietary treatments. The plasma quercetin concentration was significantly higher after the HF dietary treatment period (228·5 (SEM 34·7) nmol/l) than after the LF dietary treatment period (less than the limit of detection, i.e. <66·2 nmol/l). These findings do not support the hypothesis that dietary quercetin intake substantially affects oxidative DNA damage in leucocytes.

Determination of 8-oxoguanine and 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine in the rat cerebral cortex using microdialysis sampling and capillary electrophoresis with electrochemical detection

A rapid and sensitive method to determine 8-oxoguanine (8oxoG) and 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8OHdG), biomarkers for oxidative DNA damage, in cerebral cortex microdialysate samples using capillary electrophoresis (CE) with electrochemical detection (CEEC) was developed. Samples were concentrated on-column using pH-mediated stacking for anions. On-column anodic detection was performed with a carbon fiber working electrode and laser-etched decoupler. The method is linear over the expected extracellular concentration range for 8oxoG and 8-OHdG during induced ischemia-reperfusion, with R.S.D. values Collapse

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MESH Headings

• Animals
• Biomarkers/analysis
• Cerebral Cortex/chemistry
• Chromatography, Liquid/methods
• Deoxyadenosines/analysis
• Electrochemistry
• Electrophoresis, Capillary/methods
• Female
• Guanine/analogs & derivatives
• Guanine/analysis
• Mass Spectrometry/methods
• Microdialysis/methods
• Rats
• Rats, Sprague-Dawley

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Grants

• R01 EB000247 NIBIB NIH HHS
• R01 HL069014-02 NHLBI NIH HHS
• R01EB00247 NIBIB NIH HHS
• T32 CA009242 NCI NIH HHS
• R01 HL069014 NHLBI NIH HHS
• T32CA09242 NCI NIH HHS

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Affiliation(s)

Stacy D. Arnett Department of Chemistry, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045
Damon M. Osbourn Department of Chemistry, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045
Kimberly D. Moore Department of Chemistry, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045
Shannon S. Vandaveer Department of Chemistry, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045
Craig E. Lunte Department of Chemistry, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045

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Oxidative DNA damage: biological significance and methods of analysis

All forms of aerobic life are subjected constantly to oxidant pressure from molecular oxygen and also reactive oxygen species (ROS), produced during the biochemical utilization of O2 and prooxidant stimulation of O2 metabolism. ROS are thought to influence the development of human cancer and more than 50 other human diseases. To prevent oxidative DNA damage (protection) or to reverse damage, thereby preventing mutagenesis and cancer (repair), the aerobic cell possesses antioxidant defense systems and DNA repair mechanisms. During the last 20 years, many analytical techniques have been developed to monitor oxidative DNA base damage. High-performance liquid chromatography-electrochemical detection and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry are the two pioneering contributions to the field. Currently, the arsenal of methods available include the promising high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry technique, capillary electrophoresis, 32P-postlabeling, fluorescence postlabeling, 3H-postlabeling, antibody-base immunoassays, and assays involving the use of DNA repair glycosylases such as the comet assay, the alkaline elution assay, and the alkaline unwinding method. Recently, the use of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry has been introduced for the measurement of a number of modified nucleosides in oxidatively damaged DNA. The bulk of available chromatographic methods aimed at measuring individual DNA base lesions require either chemical hydrolysis or enzymatic digestion of oxidized DNA, following extraction from cells or tissues. The effect of experimental conditions (DNA isolation, hydrolysis, and/or derivatization) on the levels of oxidatively modified bases in DNA is enormous and has been studied intensively in the last 10 years.

Effect of diet on cancer development: is oxidative DNA damage a biomarker?

Free radicals and other reactive species are generated in vivo and many of them can cause oxidative damage to DNA. Although there are methodological uncertainties about accurate quantitation of oxidative DNA damage, the levels of such damage that escape immediate repair and persist in DNA appear to be in the range that could contribute significantly to mutation rates in vivo. The observation that diets rich in fruits and vegetables can decrease both oxidative DNA damage and cancer incidence is consistent with this. By contrast, agents increasing oxidative DNA damage usually increase risk of cancer development. Such agents include cigarette smoke, several other carcinogens, and chronic inflammation. Rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes are accompanied by increased oxidative DNA damage but the pattern of increased cancer risk seems unusual. Other uncertainties are the location of oxidative DNA damage within the genome and the variation in rate and level of oxidative damage between different body tissues. In well-nourished human volunteers, fruits and vegetables have been shown to decrease oxidative DNA damage in several studies, but data from short-term human intervention studies suggest that the protective agents are not vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene, or flavonoids.

Iron supplementation and oxidative damage to DNA in healthy individuals with high plasma ascorbate

Previously, we have investigated the potential for a pro-oxidant interaction of iron and ascorbate in vivo in iron and ascorbate cosupplementation or ascorbate supplementation studies. In this study, for the first time, the effects of iron supplementation on oxidative damage to DNA in healthy individuals with plasma ascorbate levels at the upper end of the normal range were examined. Forty female and male volunteers (mean plasma ascorbate approximately equal to 70 micromol/L) were supplemented with a daily dose of syrup (ferrous glycine sulphate equivalent to 12.5 mg iron) for 6 weeks. Serum ferritin, transferrin bound iron, % saturation of transferrin and plasma ascorbate were assessed and the mean dietary intakes of all subjects were estimated through food frequency questionnaires. Oxidative damage to DNA bases from white blood cells was measured by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry with selected-ion monitoring (GC/MS-SIM), using isotope-labelled standards for quantification. Iron supplementation did not affect any of the iron status parameters. There were also no detrimental effects, over the period under investigation, in terms of oxidative damage to DNA. However, the effects of larger doses or of longer supplementation periods should also be investigated.

Why and how should we measure oxidative DNA damage in nutritional studies? How far have we come?

Free radicals and other reactive species are constantly generated in vivo and cause oxidative damage to DNA at a rate that is probably a significant contributor to the age-related development of cancer. Agents that decrease oxidative DNA damage should thus decrease the risk of cancer development. That is, oxidative DNA damage is a "biomarker" for identifying persons at risk (for dietary or genetic reasons, or both) of developing cancer and for suggesting how the diets of these persons could be modified to decrease that risk. This biomarker concept presupposes that we can measure oxidative damage accurately in DNA from relevant tissues. Little information is available on whether oxidative DNA damage in blood cells mirrors such damage in tissues at risk of cancer development. Measurement of 8-hydroxylated guanine (eg, as 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine; 8OHdG) is the commonest method of assessing DNA damage, but there is no consensus on what the true levels are in human DNA. If the lowest levels reported are correct, 8OHdG may be only a minor product of oxidative DNA damage. Indeed, 8OHdG may be difficult to measure because of the ease with which it is formed artifactually during isolation, hydrolysis, and analysis of DNA. Mass spectrometry can accurately measure a wide spectrum of DNA base damage products, but the development of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry techniques and improved DNA hydrolysis procedures is urgently required. The available evidence suggests that in Western populations, intake of certain fruit and vegetables can decrease oxidative DNA damage, whereas ascorbate, vitamin E, and beta-carotene cannot.