Simultaneous determination of methionine cycle metabolites, urea cycle intermediates and polyamines in serum, urine and intestinal tissue by using UHPLC-MS/MS

Metabolites of methionine cycle, urea cycle and polyamine metabolism play important roles in regulating the metabolic processes and the development of diseases. It is rewarding and interesting to monitor the levels of the above metabolites in biological matrices to investigate pathological mechanisms. However, their quantitation is still unsatisfactory due to the poor retention behavior of the analytes on the traditional reversed-phase column. And never a single analytical method simultaneously quantify these three classes of metabolites. Besides, the concentrations of some metabolites are too low to be detected in the biological samples. In this study, we developed a UHPLC-ESI-MS/MS method to simultaneously determine the levels of 14 metabolites, including 4 methionine metabolism metabolites (methionine, homocysteine, S-adenosylmethionine and S-adenosylhomocysteine), 3 urea cycle intermediates (arginine, citrulline and ornithine) and 7 polyamines (putrescine, spermidine, spermine, N¹-acetylputrescine, N¹-acetylspermidine, N¹-acetylspermine and N¹,N¹²-diacetylspermine). The chromatographic separation was performed on the BEH amide column within 14 min using water and acetonitrile (both with 0.1% formic acid) as the mobile phases. The results of method validation showed good selectivity, linearity (r² > 0.99), recovery (93.1%-112.1%), inter-day and intra-day precision (RSD < 13.6% and RSD < 11.0%, respectively), stability (RSD < 15.1%) and matrix effect (76.0%-113.2%). The method is simple, quick and sensitive without derivatization processes and the use of ion-pairing reagents. This approach was successfully applied in urine, serum and tissue matrices, as well as in identifying potential biomarkers for hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism. The method is promising to provide more information on pathophysiological mechanisms in metabolomics study.

Gene expression and regulatory factors of the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) complex 1 predict mammalian longevity

Species longevity varies significantly across animal species, but the underlying molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood. Recent studies and omics approaches suggest that phenotypic traits of longevity could converge in the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signalling pathway. The present study focuses on the comparative approach in heart tissue from 8 mammalian species with a ML ranging from 3.5 to 46 years. Gene expression, protein content, and concentration of regulatory metabolites of the mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) were measured using droplet digital PCR, western blot, and mass spectrometry, respectively. Our results demonstrate (1) the existence of differences in species-specific gene expression and protein content of mTORC1, (2) that the achievement of a high longevity phenotype correlates with decreased and inhibited mTORC1, (3) a decreased content of mTORC1 activators in long-lived animals, and (4) that these differences are independent of phylogeny. Our findings, taken together, support an important role for mTORC1 downregulation in the evolution of long-lived mammals.