Metal Ions In Biological Samples Research Articles

Abstract 6850: Unraveling molecular factors contributing to metallomic dyshomeostasis induced by triple-negative breast cancer using single-cell RNA sequencing

Abstract Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) comprises 20% of breast cancer cases and exhibits an aggressive phenotype with increased metastasis; these patients have limited treatment options, poorer prognosis and higher mortality than other breast cancers (BC). Metallomics is a relatively new discipline that studies the abundance of metal ions in biological samples. Metallomic analysis has identified differences in BC patients in elements such as iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) but it is unclear if these reflect metabolic changes in the tumor. In this study, we conducted metallomic profiling to characterize 55 trace elements in the circulation and in the tumor microenvironment of orthotopic mammary fat pad tumors from two isogenic BC cell lines (highly metastatic 4T1; nonmetastatic 67NR). We complemented this analysis with single-cell RNA sequencing of the tumor to determine if complementary changes occur in molecules known to utilize metals as co-factors or transporters and identify drivers of metal metabolism in different tumors. We performed analysis on systemic metal elements by examining whole blood (including blood cells and platelets) and plasma separately. Tumor samples were assessed at the whole tissue level, and we also profiled separated immune or non-immune cells from the tumor. Li, Na, Mg, P, S, K, Ca, Fe, Cu, Zn, Rb were detectable within 100ul of input of whole blood or plasma. Metallomic analysis of the tumor and associated cell populations detected differential levels of Na, Mg, P, S, K Ca, Fe, Zn, and Rb from an average of 200mg of tissue or 2 million cells. Based on scRNAseq analysis, 67NR tumors were composed of greater proportions of cancer cells relative to the 4T1 tumors (79.1% vs 58.8% of tumor cells respectively) and endothelial cells (2.5% vs 1.8%). 4T1 tumors contained an increased abundance of cancer-associated fibroblasts (5.6% vs 2.1%) as well as immune infiltration (33.8% vs 16.3%). Fibroblasts and macrophage populations also showed elevated metal transporter expression levels based on gene expression relative to other tumor residing cell types yet minor differences induced by cancer type. Cancer cells express high levels of metal transport genes (Zn, Ca, Co, Na, Mg, Fe). 67NR cancer cells exhibited increased gene expression of many metal-transporting proteins including numerous solute carrier (SLC) group of membrane transport proteins such as Slc41a2 when compared to the more aggressive 4T1 cells. This study underscores the potential of linking metallomic profiling to tumor composition and cancer behaviors, offering a pathway for identifying novel biomarkers to differentiate aggressive and non-aggressive forms of breast cancer. This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344. Citation Format: Nicholas R. Hum, John M. Rolison, Nicole F. Leon, Ali Navid, Aimy Sebastian, Josh Wimpenny, Gabriela Loots. Unraveling molecular factors contributing to metallomic dyshomeostasis induced by triple-negative breast cancer using single-cell RNA sequencing [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 6850.

Synthesis, Characterization and Applications of Plain and Non-Metal Doped, Biomass-Derived Carbon Quantum Dots: A Short Review

Carbon dots (CDs) are very small particles have acquired research interest in the last few years, due to their unique characteristics like low-cost synthetic protocols, fast and flexible modification procedures and low toxicity. These CDs exhibit excellent physical and chemical properties like high crystallization, superconductivity, electronic conductivity, etc. and hence they establish themselves as massive entrants in emerging fields of applications like chemical sensors, nanomedicines and electrocatalytic reactions. Functional nanosensors with luminescent properties are in high demand in bioanalysis and doped carbon dots play a great role in this feature. The elements viz. B, C, N, P and S doped carbon dots are used in the detection of metal ions in biological samples, bioimaging and DNA studies. This critical review examines the environmentally friendly techniques of synthesizing doped/undoped carbon quantum dots from biomasses, with an emphasis on their electrochemical and luminescent applications.

New Polymerizable Tetraaza Macrocycle Containing Two Acridine Units for Selective Fluorescence Sensing of Metal Ions

A new fluorescent bis(acridino)-macrocycle containing two allyl groups was synthesized and photophysically studied. Studies were carried out on metal ion recognition and selectivity-influencing effects including the determination of the relevant thermodynamic constants as logK and pKa. The proposed sensor molecule is recommended for the development of Zn2+-selective optochemical analyzers based on covalently immobilized ionophores as it has a unique pH-independent metal ion recognition ability, which is not influenced by anions and other potentially occurring metal ions in biological samples.

A nano-molar fluorescent turn-on probe for copper(II) detection in living cells.

The development of fluorescent probes to detect trace metal ions in biological samples has been in great need. Herein, a fluorescence turn-on sensor (PHC) was designed for highly selective detection of Cu2+ ions. The probe PHC shows weak fluorescence due to imine isomerization. With Cu2+, a significant blue emission due to Cu2+-induced oxidation of imine to a carboxylate group is observed. The turn-on process is observed with a 63-fold increase of fluorescence quantum yield (from 0.004 to 0.252). The emission intensity has a good linear relation at Cu2+ concentrations of 0-40 μM. The detection limit is estimated as 8 nM (S/N = 3). The maximum emission change induced by Cu2+ is found in the pH range of 6.5-8.0. The probe PHC can be applied in detecting Cu2+ in living cells monitored by confocal fluorescence microscopy imaging.

Separation of metalloproteins using a novel metal ion contaminant sweeping technique and detection of protein-bound copper by a metal ion probe in polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis: distribution of copper in human serum

A polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE)-based method has been developed, consisting of two types of gel electrophoresis, to obtain an accurate distribution of protein-bound metal ions in biological samples. First, proteins are separated by PAGE without the uptake of contaminant metal ions in the separation field and dissociation of metal ions from the proteins. This is followed by another PAGE for the separation and detection of protein-bound metal ions in small volume samples with high sensitivity in the ppt range using a fluorescent metal probe. The former is a new technique using blue-native (BN) PAGE to electrophoretically sweep all metal contaminants by employing two kinds of chelating agents. These agents form complexes with contaminants in the gel and the separation buffer solution, which migrate towards opposite pole directions, thus lowering the contaminants to below the ppt level during separation. This is termed "Metal Ion Contaminant Sweeping BN-PAGE (MICS-BN-PAGE)". After the separation of proteins under these first metal-free conditions, the metal ions in the gel fractions are eluted, followed by derivatization of copper ions into the metal probe complexes to be separated and determined by fluorescence detection in the second PAGE. In this PAGE-based method, the copper ions bound to ceruloplasmin and superoxide dismutase were quantitatively determined, in addition to the exchangeable albumin-bound copper ions. This system successfully provided distribution maps of protein-copper in human serum. The precise distribution of copper in human serum was investigated, and found to be different from that which is widely accepted.

Combination of flotation and flame atomic absorption spectrometry for determination, preconcentration and separation of trace amounts of metal ions in biological samples

An efficient enrichment procedure based on the combination of flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) and flotation for determination of Cd(2+), Ag(+) and Zn(2+) ions in various biological samples using new collector is studied. The influence of pH, amount of 2-(((1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-yl)methoxy)methyl)-1H-benzo[d]imidazole (HBIMMHBI) as collector, sample matrix, type and amount of eluting agent, type and amount of surfactant as floating agent, ionic strength and air flow rates on the extraction efficiency were evaluated and optimized. It is ascertained that under study metal ions is preconcentrated simultaneously from matrix in the presence of 0.005 M HBIMMHBI, 0.085% (w/v) of SDS form 750 mL at pH 6.5. The floated complexes metal ions eluted quantitatively with 6 mL of 1.0 M HNO3 in methanol lead to achieve preconcentration factor of 125. The detection limits for analyte ions were in the range of 1.3-2.4 ng mL(-1), with recoveries more than 95% and relative SD lower than 4%.

Preparation of iminodiacetic acid functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes and its application as sorbent for separation and preconcentration of heavy metal ions

In this paper, a novel material was prepared with functionalizing multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) using iminodiacetic acid (IDA) and characterized by FT-IR. Isotherm and kinetics of adsorption were studied and the experimental data fitted the Langmuir model and pseudo-second-order equation very well. An on-line method for simultaneous determination of trace V (V), Cr (VI), Pb (II), Cd (II), Co (II), Cu (II) and As (III) in biological samples was developed using this material as sorbent coupled with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). A series of experimental parameters, including sample pH, sample flow rate and loading time, eluting solution and the effect of interfering ions have been investigated systematically. Under the optimum experimental conditions, the enrichment factors for above metal ions were ranged from 66 to 101. Detection limit (3s) was achieved at 1.3, 1.2, 0.70, 0.40, 2.5, 3.4, 0.79ngL−1, respectively. At the 1.0μgL−1 level, the precision (RSD, %) for 11 replicate measurements was from 1.0 to 4.0. In spiked biological samples, good recoveries (n=3) were obtained in the range of 90–110%. These results had proved that the proposed method was with good accuracy and could be applied to the analysis of trace metal ions in biological samples.

Study on Determination of Six Transition Metal Ions in Biological Samples by SPE and RP‐HPLC

AbstractThis paper reports the utilization of solid phase extraction and the reversed‐phase high‐performance liquid chromatography (RP‐HPLC) for the determination of six transition metal ions (iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc and manganese) in biological samples. The samples were digested by microwave digestion. The iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc and manganese ions in the digested samples can react with 2‐(2‐quinolinylazo)‐5‐diethylaminophenol (QADEAP) to form colored chelates in pH 4.0 acetic acid‐sodium acetic buffer solutions and cetyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTMAB) medium. These chelates were enriched by solid phase extraction with C18 cartridge. Then the chelates were separated on a Waters Nova‐Pak‐C18 column (3.9 × 150 mm, 5 μm) by gradient elution with methanol (containing 0.5% of acetic acid and 0.1% of CTMAB) and 0.05 mol/L pH 4.0 acetic acid‐sodium acetic buffer solution (containing 0.1% of CTMAB) as mobile phase at a flow rate of 0.5 mL/min. The detection limits of iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc and manganese are 3 ng/L, 4 ng/L, 2 ng/L, 4 ng/L, 8 ng/L, 10 ng/L, respectively. This method was applied to the determination of iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc and manganese in biological samples with good results.

Room temperature phosphorescence optosensor for anthracyclines

A flow-through optosensor for anthracyclines based on the anthracycline–europium chelate room temperature phosphorescence energy transfer is proposed. The sensor was developed in conjunction with a flow injection analysis system and is based on the transient immobilization on a non-ionic resin (packed in a flow-through cell) of the anthracycline–europium chelate. The analytical performance characteristics of the proposed sensor for semi-automated analysis and control of very low levels of anthracycline were as follows: the detection limits for daunorubicin, doxorubicin and epirubicin were 9.0, 5.8 and 5.8 ng ml–1, respectively, with an RSD of 1% for the determination of 0.22 mg ml–1 of each anthracycline (n = 10). Most of the common metal ions in biological samples did not interfere, except FeIII, which caused serious interference and should be masked with 1,10-phenanthroline. The recommended method was successfully tested for determination of anthracyclines in clinical samples (urine and pharmaceutical preparations).

Direct determination of sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium ions in human saliva by ion chromatography using a taurine-conjugated bile salt micelle-coated stationary phase

Ion chromatography using a taurine-conjugated bile salt micelle-coated stationary phase has been investigated for the direct determination of common metal ions in biological samples. Taurine-conjugated bile salt micelles are reversed aggregates, where the negative charges of sulphonate form the inside of the micelle. The sulphonate charges are acting as the ion-exchange sites for the separation of cations, while the cavity of the helical micelle also act as a size-exclusion site for the rapid elution of large organic compounds. The combination of ion-exchange and size-exclusion functions provide a new model for the direct determination of inorganic species in biological fluids using ion chromatography. The present system was successfully used for the direct determination of sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium ions in human's mixed saliva.