Comprehensive quantitative analysis of purines and pyrimidines in the human malaria parasite using ion-pairing ultra-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

J Chromatogr B Analyt Technol Biomed Life Sci. 2014 Sep 15:967:127-33. doi: 10.1016/j.jchromb.2014.07.012. Epub 2014 Jul 15.

Abstract

Targeted metabolite profiling has aided in the understanding of a variety of biological processes in the malaria parasite as well as in drug discovery. A fast and sensitive analytical method, based on ion-pairing reversed phase ultra-high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (IP-RP-UPLC-MS/MS), was optimized for the simultaneous analysis of intracellular levels of 35 purine and pyrimidine nucleobases, nucleosides, and nucleotides. This analytical method allows for chromatographic separation of highly polar metabolites using reverse phase chemistry within 15 min. The analytical performance of the method was evaluated and successfully applied to the quantification of purines and pyrimidines in Plasmodium falciparum and its host cell, the human erythrocyte. In addition, this method can be customized to include other related metabolites such as NADPH and NADP, among others.

Keywords: Human erythrocytes; Malaria; Plasmodium falciparum; Purines and pyrimidines; UPLC–MS.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / methods*
  • Erythrocytes / chemistry
  • Erythrocytes / parasitology
  • Humans
  • Limit of Detection
  • Linear Models
  • Mass Spectrometry / methods*
  • Plasmodium falciparum / chemistry*
  • Purines / analysis*
  • Purines / chemistry
  • Pyrimidines / analysis*
  • Pyrimidines / chemistry
  • Reproducibility of Results

Substances

  • Purines
  • Pyrimidines