Patent Application: US-70970096-A

Abstract:
a diagnostic method and screening test for atherosclerosis and analogous diseases involving activated phagocytes and / or inflammation is provided which comprises determining the presence of p - hydroxyphenylacetaldehyde - lysine in a test sample of a body fluid or tissue at a level which is elevated relative to the level in a normal patient .

Description:
while the specification concludes with claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter regarded as forming the present invention , it is believed that the invention will be better understood from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which , briefly : fig1 shows reverse - phase hplc detection of the reduced schiff base adduct formed in the reaction between pha and n . sup . α - acetyl - lysine . reactions containing both pha ( 2 mm ) and n . sup . α - acetyl - lysine ( 4 mm ) or either component alone were incubated for 4 h at 37 ° c . in 20 mm sodium phosphate , 100 μm dtpa , ph 7 . 4 . nacnbh 3 ( 10 mm ) was then added and reaction mixtures incubated at 37 ° c . overnight . products were subjected to hplc analysis on a c18 column as described under &# 34 ; methods &# 34 ;, below . the single major acid - stable compound formed in the presence of both pha and n . sup . α - acetyl - lysine ( retention time 14 . 0 min ) was collected and identified as n . sup . α - acetyl - n . sup . ε - pha - lysine in the tests described in fig2 - 4 . fig2 shows in two parts , fig2 a and 2b , negative - ion chemical ionization - gas chromatography - mass spectrum of the reduced schiff base formed between pha and n . sup . α - acetyl - lysine . the major product of the reaction between n . sup . α - acetyl - lysine and pha ( fig1 retention time 14 . 0 min ) was isolated by reverse phase hplc , and its n - propyl ester , per - pfp derivative subjected to gc - ms analysis as described under &# 34 ; methods .&# 34 ; ( fig2 b ) negative - ion chemical ionization mass spectrum of the derivatized hplc - purified product . the mass spectrum is consistent with the proposed structure ( inset , fig2 b ) and fragmentation pattern ( inset , fig2 a ) of the n - propyl ester , per - pfp derivative of n . sup . α - acetyl - n . sup . ε - pha - lysine . the gas chromatographic separation was carried out on a 15 m db - 5 capillary column ( j & amp ; w scientific ; 0 . 35 mm i . d ., 1 . 0 μm film thickness ) run with the following temperature gradient : 60 ° c . to 150 ° c . at 60 ° c ./ min , then 150 ° c . to 250 ° c . at 10 ° c ./ min . injector , transfer line , and source temperatures set at 250 ° c ., 250 ° c . and 150 ° c ., respectively . fig3 . shows 1 h nmr spectrum of the reduced schiff base formed between pha and n . sup . α - acetyl - lysine . the major product of n . sup . α - acetyl - lysine and pha ( fig1 retention time 14 . 0 min ) was isolated by reverse phase hplc and analyzed by 1 h nmr as described under &# 34 ; methods .&# 34 ; peak assignments established by tocsy ( fig4 ) are depicted ( inset ) and relative integrated areas are indicated . the integrated areas of the α - proton and amide ( n . sup . α and n . sup . ε ) protons are & lt ; 1 due to partial suppression and saturation transfer from exchanging water ( which was irradiated prior to signal excitation ), respectively . the protons assigned as &# 34 ; d &# 34 ; are not degenerate , and one resonates very close to the methylene ( f ) signals . at neutral ph , protons adjacent to the amides show coupling to nearby methylene groups but not to the amide protons , which exchange rapidly with solvent . upon addition of dcl the amide exchange was slowed ( permitting detection of the amide protons ), leading to broadening of resonances adjacent to the amides . protons not observed due to rapid exchange with solvent are designated ( l ). fig4 shows two dimensional total correlation spectrum of n . sup . α - acetyl - n . sup . ε - pha - lysine . the sample used for this spectrum was identical to that in fig3 . cross peaks permit the assignment of resonances of the reduced schiff base ( fig3 ). artifacts near 4 . 7 ppm in f1 and f2 arise from the intense water signal . fig5 shows reverse phase hplc analysis of bsa reacted with radiolabeled pha . bsa ( 1 mg / ml ) was incubated at 37 ° c . for 2 h with purified 14 c ! pha ( 1 . 0 mm ) in buffer b ( 20 mm sodium phosphate , 100 μm dtpa , ph 7 . 0 ). reaction products were reduced by addition of 10 mm nacnbh 3 , incubation at 37 ° c . for 1 h , and modified bsa was then precipitated with 10 % trichloroacetic acid at 0 ° c . the pellet was washed twice with ice - cold 10 % trichloroacetic acid and subsequently hydrolyzed with hbr as described under &# 34 ; methods .&# 34 ; the amino acid hydrolysate was subjected to reverse - phase hplc employing a linear gradient of 0 - 100 % methanol in 0 . 1 % tfa ( ph 2 . 5 ) over 25 min at 1 ml / min . fractions were dried and analyzed by scintillation spectrometry . the identity of the major radioactive compound as pha - lysine was confirmed by gc - ms analysis . note that l - tyrosine derived from bsa co - elutes with pha - lysine under these hplc conditions and contributes to the absorbance at a 276 nm . fig6 shows in two parts , fig6 a and fig6 b , quantification of pha - lysine in cytoplasmic and membrane - associated proteins of red blood cells exposed to the myeloperoxidase - h 2 o 2 - cl - - tyrosine system . red blood cells from whole blood ( 1 × 10 6 / ml ) were incubated with myeloperoxidase ( 40 nm ), h 2 o 2 ( 100 μm ), 100 mm cl - , and l - tyrosine ( 100 μm ) for 1 h at 37 ° c . in medium b . following reduction with nacnbh 3 , erythrocyte cytosolic and membrane - associated proteins were isolated by ultracentrifugation as described under &# 34 ; methods .&# 34 ; ( fig6 a ): the content of pha - lysine in erythrocyte cytoplasmic and membrane - associated proteins was determined by stable isotope dilution gc - ms . values represent the mean ± sem for three independent determinations . ( fig6 b ): selected ion monitoring of the base peak ( m / z 726 ; m . sup .·- - hf ) and another major fragment ion ( m / z 706 ; m . sup .·- - 2hf ) of pha - lysine from erythrocyte cytoplasmic and membrane - associated proteins exposed to myeloperoxidase - generated pha . gas chromatographic separations were performed on a 12 m hp - 1 capillary column ( hewlett packard ; 0 . 20 mm i . d ., 0 . 33 μm film thickness ) run with the following temperature gradient : 70 ° c . to 200 ° c . at 60 ° c ./ min ; then 200 ° c . to 270 ° c . at 10 ° c ./ min . injector , transfer line , and source temperatures set at 250 ° c ., 250 ° c . and 180 ° c ., respectively . * ions arising from 13 c 6 !- labeled pha - lysine internal standard . fig7 shows pha - lysine formation in bsa exposed to activated human neutrophils . freshly harvested human neutrophils ( 1 × 10 6 / ml ) were incubated in medium a supplemented with bsa ( 1 mg / ml ) and l - tyrosine ( 100 μm ). cells were stimulated with phorbol myristate acetate ( 200 nm ), incubated at 37 ° c . for 2 h , and reduced with nacnbh 3 ( 10 mm final ) at 37 ° c . for 2 h . neutrophils were removed by centrifugation . protein in the supernatant was precipitated at 0 ° c . with 10 % trichloroacetic acid , acid hydrolyzed , and the amino acid hydrolysate was subjected to gc - ms . the negative - ion chemical ionization mass spectrum and proposed fragmentation pattern of the n - propyl ester , per pfp derivative of pha - lysine are illustrated . * ions arising from 13 c 6 !- labeled pha - lysine internal standard . fig8 shows formation of pha - lysine in endogenous proteins of activated human neutrophils . the complete system ( complete ) consisted of freshly harvested human neutrophils ( 1 × 10 6 / ml ) incubated in medium a supplemented with 200 μm l - tyrosine and 200 nm phorbol myristate acetate ( pma ). cells were pelleted after a 60 min incubation at 37 ° c . neutrophil proteins were reduced with 10 mm nacnbh 3 for 2 h at 37 ° c ., and subjected to acid hydrolysis . the content of pha - lysine in the amino acid hydrolysate was determined by stable isotope dilution gc - ms . where indicated , superoxide dismutase ( sod ; 10 μg / ml ), ionomycin antibiotic ( iono ; 1 μm ), nan 3 ( 1 mm ), nacn ( 1 mm ) or catalase ( 20 μg / ml ) were included with the complete system . fig9 shows mass spectrometric detection of pha - lysine in human inflammatory tissue . fluid from an intra - abdominal abscess was collected and mixed 1 : 1 ( v : v ) with ice - cold buffer b supplemented with catalase and sodium azide , and then immediately immersed in ice - cold water . the sample was reduced by 10 mm nacnbh 3 in the presence of 100 mm ammonium acetate , delipidated , and 13 c - labelled pha - lysine internal standard was added . the proteins were acid hydrolyzed , isolated using a c18 reverse phase column , and derivatized for selected ion monitoring gc - ms analysis as described under &# 34 ; methods .&# 34 ; ions from the n - propyl - per pfp derivative of pha - lysine were monitored at m / z 746 ( m . sup .·-), 726 ( m . sup .·- - hf ), 706 ( m . sup .·- - 2hf ), 682 ( m . sup .·- - hf -- co 2 ), 598 ( m . sup .·- - cf 3 cf 2 cho ) and 479 ( m . sup .·- - cf 3 cf 2 coo -- c 6 h 4 -- ch 2 ch 2 ). the retention time of the ions were identical to the corresponding ions derived from 13 c 6 !- labeled pha - lysine internal standard . gas chromatographic separations were carried out on a 30 m db - 17 capillary column ( j & amp ; w scientific ; 0 . 25 mm i . d ., 0 . 25 μm film thickness ) run with the following temperature gradient : μm film thickness ) run with the following temperature gradient : 175 ° c . for 3 min , then 175 ° c . to 270 ° c . at 40 ° c ./ min . injector , transfer line , and source temperatures set at 250 ° c ., 250 ° c . and 120 ° c ., respectively . in order to further illustrate the invention in greater detail , the following examples were carried out although it will be appreciated that the invention is not limited to these specific examples or the details described therein . d 2 o , l - 13 c 6 ! lysine and l - 13 c 6 ! tyrosine were purchased from cambridge isotopes , inc . l - 14 c ! tyrosine was purchased from dupont - new england nuclear . hplc solvents were purchased from baxter . chelex - 100 resin , fatty acid - free bsa and crystalline catalase ( from bovine liver ; thymol - free ) were purchased from boehringer - mannheim . sodium phosphate , ethyl acetate , h 2 o 2 and naocl were purchased from fisher chemical company . all other materials were purchased from sigma chemical company except where indicated . general procedures -- myeloperoxidase ( donor : hydrogen peroxide , oxidoreductase , ec 1 . 11 . 1 . 7 ) was isolated ( a 430 nm / a 280 nm ratio of 0 . 6 ) and stored as previously described ( 25 , 41 ). enzyme concentration was determined spectrophotometrically ( ε 430 = 170 mm - 1 cm - 1 ; ref . 42 ). human neutrophils were isolated by buoyant density centrifugation ( 27 ). cell experiments were performed in medium a ( hank &# 39 ; s balance salt solution ( magnesium -, calcium -, phenol -, and bicarbonate - free ; ph 7 . 2 ; gibco - brl ) supplemented with 100 μm diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid ( dtpa )). for neutrophil experiments , ionomycin and phorbol myristate acetate were added from concentrated stocks in ethanol or dimethylsulfoxide , respectively ; the final content of each vehicle was ≦ 0 . 2 % ( v / v ). buffers were chelex - 100 treated and supplemented with 100 μm dtpa to remove redox - active metals . sodium dodecyl sulfate - polyacrylamide gel electro - phoresis ( sds - page ) was performed as described by laemmli ( 44 ). protein content was measured by the method of lowry , et al . ( 45 ) with bovine serum albumin as the standard . amino acid analyses were performed at the washington university school of medicine protein chemistry core laboratory . pre - column derivatization of amino acid hydrolysates with 6 - aminoquinoyl - n - hydroxy - succinimidyl carbamate was followed by high performance liquid chromatography ( hplc ) with uv detection ( 46 , 47 ). synthesis of pha -- naocl ( 1 : 1 , mol : mol ) was added drop - wise to l - tyrosine ( 2 mm in 20 mm sodium phosphate , ph 7 . 0 ) with constant mixing at 0 ° c . the solution was then warmed to 37 ° c . for 60 min and immediately used for experiments . preparations were analyzed by reverse phase hplc prior to use and routinely were ≧ 95 % pure . high performance liquid chromatography -- hplc analysis of pha was performed utilizing a c18 column ( beckman μporacil , 5 μm resin , 4 . 6 mm × 260 mm ) equilibrated with solvent a ( 5 % methanol , 0 . 1 % trifluoroacetic acid , ( tfa ), ph 2 . 5 ). products were monitored by absorbance ( a 276 nm ) and eluted at a flow rate of 1 ml / min with a nonlinear gradient generated with solvent b ( 90 % methanol , 0 . 1 % tfa , ph 2 . 5 ) as follows : 14 c ! pha - lysine was quantified by scintillation spectrometry following isolation on reverse phase hplc ( table i , below ) with the following gradient : generation of pha - lysine adduct -- reactions were carried out for 4 h at 37 ° c . under the reaction conditions indicated in the brief description of the figures , above . schiff base adducts then were reduced by addition of 10 mm nacnbh 3 and incubation overnight or for the indicated time at 37 ° c . where indicated , 100 mm ammonium acetate was included during reduction to scavenge free pha . pha - lysine formation on membrane - associated and cytoplasmic proteins of intact cells . whole blood diluted with medium b ( 10 mm phosphate buffered saline , ph 7 . 0 ( sigma chemical company ) supplemented with 100 μm dtpa ) to a final concentration of 1 × 10 6 erythrocytes / ml was incubated with myeloperoxidase ( 40 nm ), h 2 o 2 ( 100 μm ) and l - tyrosine ( 100 μm ) for 1 h at 37 ° c . schiff base adducts were reduced by incubation at 37 ° c . for 2 h with 10 mm nacnbh 3 in the presence of 100 mm ammonium acetate . cells were pelleted by centrifugation ( 5000 × g ) for 15 min at 4 ° c ., washed twice with medium b , and then homogenized on ice with a tight fitting potter - elvejheim homogenizer . the cell lysate was fractionated into soluble and membrane - associated fractions by ultracentrifugation ( 100 , 000 × g for 1 h at 4 ° c . ), delipidated with two sequential extractions with water - washed diethyl ether ( 1 : 1 ; v : v ), and l - 13 c 6 ! tyrosine ( 300 nmol ; a marker of protein content ) and n . sup . α - acetyl - n . sup . ε - 13 c 6 ! pha - lysine ( 20 pmol ) added as internal standards . following hbr hydrolysis and solid phase extraction on a c18 supelco column , the content of pha - lysine was determined by stable isotope dilution gc - ms as described below . preparation of n . sup . α - acetyl - n . sup . ε - 13 c 6 ! pha - lysine internal standard -- l - 13 c 6 ! tyrosine ( 2 mm ) in 20 mm sodium phosphate ( ph 7 . 0 ) was first converted to 13 c 6 ! pha ( 24 98 % purity as assessed by reverse phase hplc ) by addition of naocl as described above . n . sup . α - acetyl - lysine ( 4 mm ) was then added , the mixture was incubated at 37 ° c . for 4 h , and the schiff base was reduced by overnight incubation with 10 mm nacnbh 3 . n . sup . α - acetyl - n . sup . ε - 13 c 6 ! pha - lysine was isolated by reverse phase hplc ( fig1 ). protein hydrolysis -- solutions of proteins covalently modified by pha were dried under vacuum . known quantities of either l - 13 c 6 ! lysine or l - 13 c 6 ! tyrosine and n . sup . α - acetyl - n . sup . ε - 13 c 6 ! pha - lysine were then added as internal standards . hbr ( 6n , 0 . 5 ml ) supplemented with phenol ( 1 %) was added to the sample ( 250 μg protein ) in glass 2 ml reaction vials equipped with mininert gas - tight valves and the samples were alternately evacuated and purged with argon gas five times . the argon - covered solution was hydrolyzed at 120 ° c . for 24 h . the protein hydrolysate was diluted to 2 . 0 ml with 0 . 1 % tfa and applied to a c18 column ( supleclean , 3 ml , supelco co .) equilibrated with 0 . 1 % tfa . following a 2 ml wash with 0 . 1 % tfa , pha - lysine was recovered with 2 ml of 20 % methanol in 0 . 1 % tfa . samples were evaporated to dryness under either anhydrous n 2 or vacuum prior to derivatization . n - propyl esters were prepared by the addition of 200 μl 3 . 5 m hbr in n - propanol ( cambridge isotope laboratories ) followed by heating at 65 ° c . for 30 min . propylated products were dried under n 2 and pentafluoropropionyl ( pfp ) derivatives were then generated by addition of excess pentafluoropropionic acid anhydride ( pierce chemical co .) in ethyl acetate ( 1 : 3 ; v : v ) for 1 h at 65 ° c . heptafluorobutyryl ( hfb ) derivatives of esterified reaction products were prepared by addition of 50 μl ethyl acetate / heptafluorobutyric acid anhydride ( 4 : 1 ; v / v ) and heating at 65 ° c . for 30 min . tissue collection -- samples were immersed in ice and processed within 30 min of collection . schiff bases were rendered acid stable by reduction with 10 mm nacnbh 3 in the presence of 100 mm ammonium acetate ( to scavenge any free aldehyde ), 1 mm nan 3 ( a myeloperoxidase inhibitor ) and 300 nm catalase ( a h 2 o 2 scavenger ) in 50 mm sodium phosphate ( ph 7 . 4 ) at 37 ° c . for 1 h . preliminary experiments confirmed that no additional pha - lysine was generated under these conditions when samples were supplemented with myeloperoxidase ( 20 nm ) and h 2 o 2 ( 100 μm ). samples were subsequently delipidated , the protein pellet washed twice with 10 % trichloroacetic acid at 0 ° c . under a fume hood , and then subjected to acid hydrolysis , solid phase extraction on a c18 minicolumn , and derivatization for gc - ms analysis . mass spectrometric analysis -- amino acids were quantified using stable isotope dilution gc - ms in the negative - ion chemical ionization mode . samples were analyzed with a hewlett packard 5890 gas chromatograph interfaced with a hewlett packard 5988a mass spectrometer with extended mass range . gas chromatographic separations were typically carried out utilizing a 12 m hp - 1 capillary column ( hewlett packard ; 0 . 2 mm i . d ., 0 . 33 μm film thickness ) in the splitless mode with he as the carrier gas . unless otherwise indicated , the column was run with the following temperature gradient : 70 ° c . to 200 ° c . at 60 ° c ./ min , followed by 200 ° c . to 250 ° c . at 10 ° c ./ min . injector , transfer line and source temperatures were set at 250 ° c ., 250 ° c ., and 150 ° c ., respectively . high resolution mass spectrometry with a vg - zab se double - focusing mass spectrometer was performed to confirm the proposed structural assignments of major ions by determining their elemental composition . the resolution was set at 10 , 000 with perfluorokerosine as the reference . amino acids were quantified as their n - propyl , per - pfp derivative using selected ion monitoring . pha - lysine was monitored using the base peak at m / z 726 ( m . sup .·- - hf ), another major fragment ion at m / z 706 ( m . sup .·- - 2hf ), and their corresponding isotopically labeled internal standard ions at m / z 732 and m / z 712 . l - tyrosine was monitored using the base peak at m / z 367 ( m . sup .·- - pfp ), another major fragment ion at m / z 495 ( m . sup .·- - hf ), and their corresponding isotopically labeled internal standard ions at m / z 373 and m / z 501 . l - lysine was monitored using the base peak at m / z 460 ( m . sup .·- - hf ), another major fragment ion at m / z 440 ( m . sup .·- - 2hf ), and their corresponding isotopically labeled internal standard ions at m / z 466 and m / z 446 . quantification was based on an external calibration curve constructed with each authentic compound and its isotopically labeled internal standard . to ensure that no interfering ions were co - eluting with the analyte , the ratio of ion currents of the two characteristic ions of each compound and its internal standard were routinely monitored . all amino acids were baseline separated and co - eluted with 13 c - labeled internal standards . the limit of detection ( signal / noise & gt ; 10 ) was & lt ; 1 pmol for all compounds . nmr studies -- analyses were performed at 25 ° c . in d 2 o : h 2 o ( 1 : 9 ; v : v ) with hplc purified n . sup . α - acetyl - n . sup . ε - pha - lysine using a varian unity - plus 500 spectrometer ( 499 . 843 mhz for 1 h ) equipped with a nalorac indirect detection probe . 1 h chemical shifts were referenced to external sodium 3 -( trimethylsilyl )- propionate - 2 , 2 , 3 , 3 , d 4 in d 2 o . prior to nmr analysis , the sample of n . sup . α - acetyl - n . sup . ε - pha - lysine was acidified with dcl ( cambridge isotopes inc .) until inhibition of amide proton exchange was observed . for proton and total correlation spectroscopy ( tocsy ) experiments , the intense water signal was attenuated by transmitter pre - irradiation . the proton nmr spectrum of n . sup . α - acetyl - n . sup . ε - pha - lysine was recorded at 25 ° c . from 64 transients under the following conditions : pre - acquisition delay = 2 s , acquisition time = 1 . 89 s ( 37 , 760 complex data points ), pulse width = 7 μs ( 80 ° flip angle ) and spectral width = 10 , 000 hz . the free induction decay was processed with a line broadening apodization of 1 . 0 hz . for tocsy , eight transients were collected for each of 200 t 1 domain increments . a 10 ms mixing period was employed resulting in cross peaks for only the strongest scalar couplings ( geminal and vicinal ). the acquisition time was 0 . 256 s in t 2 ( 2048 complex data points ) and 0 . 050 s in t 1 ( 200 data points ). tocsy data was processed by the hypercomplex method with gausian weighting in both t 1 and t 2 dimensions . digital signal processing was employed to suppress artifacts arising from the intense water resonance . pha forms a schiff base adduct with the free amino group of n . sup . α - acetyl - lysine . initially , a study was made of the reaction of pha with n . sup . α - acetyl - lysine , a model compound for free amino groups on proteins , to facilitate the isolation and characterization of products . reactions were carried out at ph 7 . 4 and 37 ° c . in a phosphate - buffered physiological salt solution . reverse phase hplc analysis of the complete reaction mixture after reduction with nacnbh 3 revealed a single major acid - stable product ( fig1 ; retention time 14 . 0 min ). formation of the compound required the presence of both pha and n . sup . α - acetyl - lysine ( fig1 ); it was undetectable in the absence of reduction under the acidic conditions employed for hplc analysis . characterization of the stable reduced product by nmr and gc - ms ( see below ) demonstrated that it was n . sup . α - acetyl - n . sup . ε - pha - lysine ( scheme i ). the failure to detect the compound in the presence of acid suggested that the initial reaction of the aldehyde and the free amino group of n . sup . α - acetyl - lysine resulted in formation of a schiff base . reduction of the schiff base would then yield the acid - stable aldehyde - lysine adduct ( scheme i ). to determine the structure of the compound , the reaction mixture was reduced with nacnbh 3 , and hplc purified material was derivatized and subjected to gc - ms analysis . a single major peak of material was apparent in the total ion chromatogram ( fig2 a ). the negative - ion chemical ionization mass spectrum of the n - propyl ester , per - pfp derivative of the compound ( fig2 b ) was consistent with the proposed structure of pha - lysine ( fig2 a , inset ). the compound demonstrated a low abundance ion on selected - ion monitoring at m / z 746 , the anticipated m / z of the molecular ion ( m . sup .·-), that co - eluted with the major ions seen in the mass spectrum of the compound . gc - ms analysis of the n - propyl ester , per - hfb derivative of the compound also exhibited a mass spectrum consistent with the proposed structure ; ions were observed at m / z 896 ( m . sup .·-), 876 ( m . sup .·- - hf ), 856 ( m . sup .·- - 2hf ), 832 ( m . sup .·- - hf -- co 2 ), 698 ( m . sup .·- - cf 3 cf 2 cf 2 cho ) and 579 ( m . sup .·- - cf 3 cf 2 coo -- c 6 h 4 -- ch 2 ch 2 ). nmr spectroscopy was performed to establish unambiguously the structure of the compound ( fig3 ). both the chemical shifts and integrated peak areas of the 1 h nmr spectrum were consistent with the structure of pha - lysine ( fig3 inset ). to confirm the proton assignments , tocsy was employed to identify scalar couplings between resonances ( fig4 ). the sequential order of 2 , 3 - bond h - h couplings observed in the tocsy experiment established the structure of the compound as n . sup . α - acetyl - n . sup . ε - pha - lysine . collectively , these studies indicate that pha forms a schiff base with the free amino group of n . sup . α - acetyl - lysine , and that the structure of the stable reduction product is n . sup . α - acetyl - n . sup . ε - pha - lysine ( scheme i ). pha generated by the myeloperoxidase - h 2 o 2 -- cl - system covalently modifies lysine residues of bsa . preliminary experiments utilizing l - 14 c ! tyrosine demonstrated that bovine serum albumin ( bsa ) was covalently modified by a l - tyrosine - derived product in the presence of the complete myeloperoxidase - h 2 o 2 - cl - system , as assessed by sds - page and subsequent auto - radiography . to determine whether the schiff base adduct between pha and the ε - amino group of lysine accounted in part for this reaction , bsa was exposed to the myeloperoxidase - h 2 o 2 system supplemented with physiological concentrations ( 48 ) of 14 c - labelled l - tyrosine ( 100 μm ) and chloride ( 100 mm ). following incubation , the protein was reduced with nacnbh 3 , and the content of 14 c ! pha - lysine was determined by reverse phase hplc and scintillation counting as described under &# 34 ; methods .&# 34 ; in the presence of the complete myeloperoxidase - h 2 o 2 -- cl - system , lysine residues of bsa were converted to pha - lysine ( table i ). synthesis of the adduct required for the presence of myeloperoxidase , h 2 o 2 , l - tyrosine and cl - , and was inhibited by the h 2 o 2 scavenger catalase ( table i ). addition of either azide or cyanide , two heme protein inhibitors , resulted in inhibition of pha - lysine synthesis , consistent with the reaction being dependent upon peroxidase . the c 1 - dependence of the enzymatic reaction suggested that hocl ( or perhaps enzyme - bound hypochlorite ; refs . 49 , 50 ) was an intermediate in the formation of pha 27 . consonant with this proposal , addition of hocl and l - tyrosine to bsa resulted in the covalent modification of n . sup . ε - lysine residues ( table i ). furthermore , both lactoperoxidase and horseradish peroxidase , which do not use chloride as substrate ( 23 ), failed to generate either pha ( 27 ) or the lysine adduct ( table i ). the covalent modification of bsa by pha was independent of free metal ions because all reactions were carried out in the presence of dtpa , a potent inhibitor of metal - catalyzed reactions . the major covalent adduct generated between pha and bsa is pha - lysine . to determine the quantitative significance of pha - lysine relative to other potential protein adducts , bsa was incubated with hplc purified 14 c - labelled pha . the modified protein was then incubated with nacnbh 3 hydrolyzed in hbr , and the amino acid hydrolysate analyzed by reverse - phase hplc and scintillation spectrometry . over 80 % of the radioactivity recovered in the amino acid hydrolysate co - chromatographed with authentic pha - lysine ( fig5 ). the identity of the radiolabeled compound as pha - lysine was confirmed by gc - ms analysis . amino acid analysis confirmed that lysine was the major target for covalent modification by pha . incubation of bsa with purified pha in the presence of nacnbh 3 resulted in the consumption of 34 % of total l - lysine residues in the protein . small but consistent losses of l - arginine (˜ 6 %) were also observed , and may account for the late eluting product seen in fig5 . there were also small but consistent losses (˜ 3 %) in l - aspartic acid , suggesting a reaction involving the free amino group of the n - terminal asparatic acid of bsa . schiff bases are in equilibrium with their parent aldehyde and amino moieties . in the presence of nacnbh 3 , the formation of pha - lysine is enhanced by the reduction of existing schiff bases . to estimate the number of protein lysine residues modified in the absence of a reducing agent , bsa was incubated with pha , and then the schiff base adduct was stabilized by reduction with nacnbh 3 in the presence of high concentrations of ammonium acetate ( to scavenge unreacted pha ). amino acid hydrolysis confirmed that lysine was the major target for covalent modification by pha under these conditions ( table ii ). the loss of l - lysine residues was accounted for by the appearance of a novel product which coeluted with l - glycine on amino acid analysis , and that is believed to represent pha - lysine . pha , an amphipathic l - tyrosine oxidation product , covalently modifies both inteqral membrane and cytoplasmic proteins of intact cells . previous studies revealed that ˜ 90 % of the pha generated by activated neutrophils partitioned into the membrane fraction due to the amphipathic nature of the aldehyde ( 27 ). it was therefore determined herein whether myeloperoxidase - generated pha could covalently modify membrane - associated and cytoplasmic proteins of intact cells . red blood cells were incubated with myeloperoxidase , h 2 o 2 and physiological concentrations of l - tyrosine and cl - , and the extent of pha - lysine formation was determined . substantial amounts of the schiff base adduct between pha and n . sup . ε - lysine residues were generated on both membranous and cytoplasmic proteins as detected by gc - ms ( fig6 a ). selected ion monitoring gc - ms analysis demonstrated that the major ions expected for pha - lysine co - eluted with those of synthetically prepared 13 c 6 ! pha - lysine ( fig6 b ). generation of pha - lysine required myeloperoxidase , h 2 o 2 , l - tyrosine , and red blood cells . these results indicate that pha readily diffuses through plasma membranes to react with intracellular proteins . the relative enrichment of pha - lysine in membrane - associated proteins may be due either to high local concentrations of pha or their location at the interface between the intracellular milieu and extracellular space where free pha is generated initially by myeloperoxidase . pha generated by human neutrophils forms pha - lysine adducts on model proteins . phorbol ester - activated human neutrophils incubated in a balanced salt solution supplemented with bsa and plasma concentrations of l - tyrosine generated pha - lysine as determined by stable isotope dilution gc - ms ( fig7 and table iii ). selected ion monitoring gc - ms confirmed the presence of pha - lysine , revealing ions with the expected retention time and m / z found in synthetically prepared 13 c 6 ! pha - lysine . moreover , the negative - ion chemical ionization mass spectrum of the neutrophil product was identical to that of authentic pha - lysine ( compare fig7 and fig2 b ). covalent modification of lysine residues in bsa by neutrophil - generated pha required cells , l - tyrosine , and an activating stimulus ( table iii ). addition of superoxide dismutase to the reaction mixture , which accelerates the conversion of superoxide anion into h 2 o 2 500 - fold at neutral ph ( 51 ), caused a 2 - fold increase in the yield of the adduct ( table iii ). addition of the calcium ionophore ionomycin , which promotes pha synthesis ( 27 ), also resulted in additional pha - lysine generation , consistent with enhanced h 2 o 2 synthesis and / or myeloperoxidase degranulation . generation of the covalent adduct by activated human neutrophils was sensitive to inhibition by catalase , indicating that h 2 o 2 was required for pha - lysine synthesis . the heme poisons azide and cyanide inhibited pha - lysine formation , consistent with a role of myeloperoxidase in aldehyde generation by the cells ( 27 ). collectively , these results herein indicate that activated human neutrophils employ the myeloperoxidase - h 2 o 2 -- cl - system to generate pha , which then reacts with the free amino groups of proteins to form pha - lysine . activation of human neutrophils with phorbol ester in medium containing physiological concentrations of l - tyrosine resulted in the covalent modification of neutrophil proteins ( fig8 ). as with bsa , the cell - mediated reaction was stimulated by superoxide dismutase , and inhibited by either peroxidase inhibitors ( nan 3 and nacn ) or an h 2 o 2 scavenger ( catalase ). ( fig8 ). to explore the role of pha in protein modification in vivo , a variety of acute inflammatory tissues were examined for the presence of the lysine adduct . specimens were reduced with nacnbh 3 in the presence of excess ammonium acetate ( to scavenge free aldehyde ), nan 3 ( a myeloperoxidase inhibitor ) and catalase ( a h 2 o 2 scavenger ). samples were subsequently delipidated , subjected to acid hydrolysis , and analyzed by gc - ms . pha - lysine was readily detected by selected ion monitoring in fluid isolated from an intra - abdominal abscess ( fig9 ). similar results were obtained with specimens collected from a gouty knee and an infected pilonidal cyst . ## str1 ## table i______________________________________covalent modification of bsa lysine residues by themyeloperoxidase - h . sub . 2 o . sub . 2 -- cl - tyrosine system pha - lysinecondition nmol______________________________________complete system : bsa + mpo + h . sub . 2 o . sub . 2 + l - tyrosine + cl 7 . 3 * complete system minus : mpo 0h . sub . 2 o . sub . 2 0l - tyrosine 0cl 0complete system plus : catalase ( 10 μg / ml ) 0nan . sub . 3 ( 1 mm ) 0nacn ( 1 mm ) 0bsa + hocl + l - tyrosine + cl 15 . 8 ** bsa + lactoperoxidase + h . sub . 2 o . sub . 2 + l - tyrosine + cl 0bsa + horseradish peroxidase + h . sub . 2 o . sub . 2 + l - tyrosine 0 cl______________________________________ the complete system consisted of buffer b ( 20 mm sodium phosphate , ph 7 . 0 , 100 μm dtpa ) supplemented wtih bsa ( 1 mg / ml ), myeloperoxidase ( mpo ; 40 nm ), h . sub . 2 o . sub . 2 ( 100 μm ), l - . sup . 14 c ! tyrosine ( 100 μm ) and nacl ( 100 mm ). where indicated , lactoperoxidase ( 100 μg / ml ) and horseradish peroxidase ( 10 μg / ml ) were substituted for myeloperoxidase , or reagent hocl ( 100 μm ) replaced myeloperoxidase and h . sub . 2 o . sub . 2 . after a 1 h incubation at 37 ° c ., reaction products were reduced with nacnbh . sub . 3 , bsa precipitated and the pellet washed (× 3 ) with 10 % trichloroacetic acid , and then acid hydrolyzed . the pha - lysine content of the amino acid hydrolysate was then determined by reverse phase hplc and scintillation counting as described under &# 34 ; methods .&# 34 ; product identity was confirmed by gc - ms analysis . * 2 . 5 % of the h . sub . 2 o . sub . 2 in the complete system and ** 5 . 5 % of reagent hocl was used for the generation of pha - lysine . table ii______________________________________amino acid composition analysis of bsa modified bymyeloperoxidase - generated phaamino acid % native bsa______________________________________alanine 100arginine 101aspartate / asparagine 99glutamate / glutamine 100glycine * 145 * histidine 103isoleucine 100leucine 100lysine 82phenylalanine 101proline 100serine 101threonine 97tyrosine 98valine 99______________________________________ bsa ( 1 mg / ml ) was incubated overnight at 37 ° c . with pha ( 1 mm ) in medium b . the reaction was terminated by the addition of 10 mm nacnbh 3 and 100 mm ammonium acetate ( to reduce schiff bases and scavenge free pha , respectively ). after a 2 h incubation at 37 ° c ., modified protein was isolated by size exclusion chromatography using a dg - 10 column ( bio - rad ) equilibrated with h 2 o . the protein was then dried under vacuum , acid hydrolyzed and subjected to amino acid analysis as described under &# 34 ; methods .&# 34 ; cysteine , methionine and tryptophan are acid - labile and were not quantified . table iii______________________________________covalent modification of the lysine residues of bsaby activated human neutrophils pha - lysine / lysinecondition ( μmol / mol ) ______________________________________complete system : cells + l - tyrosine + bsa + pma 297complete system minus : cells & lt ; 0 . 01l - tyrosine & lt ; 0 . 01pma & lt ; 0 . 01complete system plus : sod ( 10 μg / ml ) 545sod ( 10 μg / ml ) + ionomycin ( 1 μm ) 696catalase ( 200 μg / ml ) 8nan . sub . 3 ( 1 mm ) 40nacn ( 1 mm ) 14______________________________________ human neutrophils ( 1 × 10 6 / ml ) were incubated for 2 h at 37 ° c . in hank &# 39 ; s balanced salt solution supplemented with dtpa ( 100 μm ) and bsa ( 1 mg / ml ). neutrophils were activated with phorbol ester ( pma ; 200 nm ) and maintained in suspension by intermittent inversion ( complete system ). neutrophils were removed by centrifugation , and schiff bases in the supernatant reduced by addition of nacnbh 3 ( 10 mm ) and ammonium acetate ( 100 mm ). after a 2 h incubation at 37 ° c ., protein in the supernatant was precipitated with ice - cold 10 % trichloroacetic acid , and the protein pellet was subjected to acid hydrolysis . the pha - lysine content of the amino acid hydrolysate was determined by stable isotope dilution gc - ms . sod , superoxide dismutase . various other examples will be apparent to the person skilled in the art after reading the present disclosure without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . it is intended that all such other examples be included within the scope of the appended claims . thus , the presence and level of the pha - lysine in the sample of body fluid or tissue also can be determined by immunoprecipitation procedures in an immunoassay with polyclonal or monoclonal antibodies to the pha - lysine . one - and two - site radioimmunoassays and enzyme immunoassays , e . g ., an enzyme - linked immunosorbent assay ( elisa ) procedure as described by engvall and perlmann , j . immunol . 109 , 129 - 135 ( 1972 ), can be used in the diagnostic method of the invention . monoclonal antibodies for use in such procedures can be prepared by conventional hybridoma methodology as described by kohler and milstein , nature 256 , 495 - 497 ( 1975 ), and eur . j . immunol . 6 , 511 - 519 ( 1976 ); and goding , monoclonal antibodies : principles and practice , academic press inc ., new york , 1983 ). 1 . brown , m . s . and goldstein , j . l . 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