Investigation of signaling molecules and metabolites found in crustacean hemolymph via in vivo microdialysis using a multifaceted mass spectrometric platform

Abstract

Neurotransmitters (NTs) are endogenous signaling molecules which play an important role in regulating various physiological processes in animals. Detection of these chemical messengers is often challenging due to their low concentration levels and fast degradation rate in vitro. In order to address these challenges, herein we employed in vivo microdialysis (MD) sampling to study neurotransmitters in the crustacean model Cancer borealis. Multi-faceted separation tools, such as capillary electrophoresis (CE) and ion mobility mass spectrometry were utilized in this work. Small molecules were separated by different mechanisms and detected by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometric imaging (MALDI-MSI). Performance of this separation-based MSI platform was also compared to liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS). By utilizing both MALDI and ESI MS, a total of 208 small molecule neurotransmitters and metabolites were identified, of which 39 were identified as signaling molecules secreted in vivo. In addition, the inherent property of sub micro-scale sample consumption using CE enables shorter time of MD sample collection. Temporal resolution of in vivo MD was improved by approximately 10-fold compared to LC-ESI-MS, indicating the significant advantage of applying separation-assisted MALDI MS imaging platform.

Pharmacokinetic and Pharmacodynamics of Self-Assembled Cubic Liquid Crystalline Nanoparticle Gel After Transdermal Administration

“…PAE-LCNPs formed an effective active drug repository in local tissue, could quickly permeate through the skin and reach the peak at about 2.4 h, and control the release of drug in 8 h, which indicated the sustained-release effect and better targeting of the skin. But according to the related literature [ 20 ], after long-term administration, the drug can accumulate on the surface of the skin. How deposition affects drug penetration changes of the drug in the blood remains to be determined, and long-term transdermal penetration testing and assessing the drug level in the blood need further investigation.…”

Recent advances in CE‐MS coupling: Instrumentation, methodology, and applications

“…Jiang et al. profiled neurotransmitters and metabolites from hemolymph of a Jonah crab, Cancer borealis using off‐line CE‐MALDI imaging . The inlet of capillary was positioned 15 cm higher than the outlet to maintain siphoning flow and the outlet was positioned right above the matrix plate.…”

Neuropeptide modulation of pattern-generating systems in crustaceans: comparative studies and approaches

“…More recently, multi-faceted mass spectrometric approaches have allowed researchers to identify peptides spanning a wider mass range, as well as to apply this technology in innovative ways. Thus, recent research has not only generated new peptidomes or enlarged known peptidomes, but has also begun to detect spatial and temporal distributions of peptides [8,9,10*,11] and to detect peptides in hemolymph (eg, [8,9,10*–12]).…”