Abstract. A new matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry matrix is proposed for molecular mass determination of polymers. This matrix contains an iron oxide nanoparticle (NP) core with citric acid (CA) molecules covalently bound to the surface. With the assistance of additives, the particulate nature of NPs allows the matrix to mix uniformly with polar or nonpolar polymer layers and promotes ionization, which may simplify matrix selection and sample preparation procedures. Several distinctively different polymer classes (polyethyleneglycol (PEG), polywax/polyethylene, perfluoropolyether, and polydimethylsiloxane) are effectively detected by the water or methanol dispersed NPCA matrix with NaCl, NaOH, LiOH, or AgNO 3 as additives. Furtheremore, successful quantitative measurements of PEG1000 using polypropylene glycol 1000 as an internal standard are demonstrated.

Triton X-100 detergent treatment is a robust enveloped virus inactivation unit operation included in biopharmaceutical manufacturing processes. However, the European Commission officially placed Triton X-100 on the Annex XIV authorization list in 2017 because a degradation product of Triton X-100, 4-(1,1,3,3-tetramethylbutyl) phenol (also known as 4-tert-octylphenol), is considered to have harmful endocrine disrupting activities. As a result, the use of Triton X-100 in the European Economic Area (EEA) would not be allowed unless an ECHA issued authorization was granted after the sunset date of January 4, 2021. This has prompted biopharmaceutical manufacturers to search for novel, environment-friendly alternative detergents for enveloped virus inactivation. In this study, we report the identification of such a novel detergent, Simulsol SL 11W. Simulsol SL 11W is an undecyl glycoside surfactant produced from glucose and C11 fatty alcohol. We report here that Simulsol SL 11W was able to effectively inactive enveloped viruses, such as xenotropic murine leukemia virus (XMuLV) and pseudorabies virus (PRV). By using XMuLV as a representative enveloped virus, the influence of various parameters on the effectiveness of virus inactivation was evaluated. Virus inactivation by Simulsol SL 11W was effective across different clarified bioreactor harvests at broad concentrations, pH, and temperature ranges. Simulsol SL 11W concentration, temperature of inactivation, and treatment time were identified as critical process parameters for virus inactivation. Removal of Simulsol SL 11W was readily achieved by Protein A chromatography and product quality was not affected by detergent treatment. Taken together, these results have shown the potential of Simulsol SL 11W as a desirable alternative to Triton X-100 for enveloped virus inactivation that could be readily implemented into biopharmaceutical manufacturing processes.

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This chapter discussed environmental factors that are affected by climate changes in influencing the endocrine stress response in fishes. It has also recently been reported from previous studies that the exposure of parents to environmental changes may improve progeny survival in fish, implicating epigenetics as a mechanism for long-term and generational adjustments to environmental stressors.

Inorganic nanoparticles as MALDI matrices have recently been explored to study the molecular mass determination and structural analysis of glycans and peptides. However, the specific factors contributing to the success of the analysis are not well elucidated. In this paper, we investigated the roles of nanoparticle surface coatings and additive ions in MALDI in-source decay (ISD) analysis of model glycans and peptides. Specifically, iron oxide nanoparticles with four defined capping molecules (gluconic acid, citric acid, lactobionic acid, or glutathione) were tested, and the roles of additives (NH4OH, NaOH, LiOH, NaCl, or trifluoroacetic acid) were examined. For a model glycan, maltoheptaose, and a model peptide, substance P acid, nanoparticle capping molecules, additive cations, and additive anions altogether influenced the molecular ion sensitivity and ISD fragmentation efficiency.