One crucial aspect of the Maillard reaction is the formation of
reactive α-dicarbonyl structures like glyoxal, which are prone
toward further reactions with proteins, e.g., the N6
-amino group of lysine. The initially formed labile glyoxal-imine
was previously established as a key intermediate in the formation
of the advanced glycation end products N
6-carboxymethyl lysine (CML), glyoxal lysine amide (GOLA), glyoxal
lysine dimer (GOLD), and N
6-glycolyl lysine
(GALA). Here, we introduce a novel amidine cross-link structure N
1,N
2-bis-(5-amino-5-carboxypentyl)-2-hydroxy-acetamidine
(glyoxal lysine amidine, GLA), which is formed exclusively from glyoxal
through the same isomerization cascade. After independent synthesis
of the authentic reference standard, we were able to quantitate this
cross-link in incubations of 40 mM N
2-t-Boc-lysine with glyoxal and various sugars (40–100
mM) under mild conditions (pH 7.4, 37 °C) using an HPLC–MS/MS
method. Furthermore, incubations of proteins (6 mg/mL) with 50 mM
glyoxal confirmed the cross-linking by GLA, which was additionally
identified in acidic hydrolyzed proteins of butter biscuits after
HPLC enrichment.