Gas-liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry in biochemistry, pharmacology and toxicology

A timeline of stable isotopes and mass spectrometry in the life sciences

This review retraces the role of stable isotopes and mass spectrometry in the life sciences. The timeline is divided into four segments covering the years 1920-1950, 1950-1980, 1980-2000, and 2000 until today. For each period methodic progress and typical applications are discussed. Application of stable isotopes is driven by improvements of mass spectrometry, chromatography, and related fields in sensitivity, mass accuracy, structural specificity, complex sample handling ability, data output, and data evaluation. We currently experience the vision of omics-type analyses, that is, the comprehensive identification and quantification of a complete compound class within one or a few analytical runs. This development is driven by stable isotopes without competition by radioisotopes. In metabolic studies as classic field of isotopic tracer experiments, stable isotopes and radioisotopes were competing solutions, with stable isotopes as the long-term junior partner. Since the 1990s the number of metabolic studies with radioisotopes decreases, whereas stable isotope studies retain their slow but stable upward tendency. Unique fields of stable isotopes are metabolic tests in newborns, metabolic experiments in healthy controls, newborn screening for inborn errors, quantification of drugs and drug metabolites in doping control, natural isotope fractionation in geology, ecology, food authentication, or doping control, and more recently the field of quantitative omics-type analyses. There, cells or whole organisms are systematically labeled with stable isotopes to study proteomic differences or specific responses to stimuli or genetic manipulation. The duo of stable isotopes and mass spectrometry will probably continue to grow in the life sciences, since it delivers reference-quality quantitative data with molecular specificity, often combined with informative isotope effects. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Mass Spec Rev 36:58-85, 2017.

Radiogas chromatography mass spectrometry in the selected ion monitoring mode

The value of selected ion monitoring in analyzing biological radio isotope incorporation experiments by radiogas chromatography mass spectrometry is illustrated with reference to the biosynthesis of the mycotoxin mycophenolic acid and the mode of action of the anticholesterolemic drug 20,25-diazacholesterol. It is shown that the increased sensitivity and specificity of the selected ion monitoring mode detector permits straightforward detection and identification of the relatively small cellular pools associated with metabolic intermediates. The computer program RADSIM is described. Problems that still exist in using radiogas gas chromatography mass spectrometry technology to analyse isotope incorporation experiments are discussed.