Automated monitoring of phosphatidylcholine biosyntheses in Plasmodium falciparum by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry through stable isotope labeling experiments

Anal Chem. 2004 Aug 1;76(15):4515-21. doi: 10.1021/ac049759+.

Abstract

The metabolic pathways contributing to phosphatidylcholine biosyntheses in Plasmodium falciparum, the malaria-causing parasite, was explored by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. Phosphatidylcholine produced by the CDP-choline pathway and by the methylation of phosphatidylethanolamine was identified and quantified through isotopic labeling experiments. A straightforward method based on cone voltage directed in-source fragmentations and relative abundance measurement of endogenous versus deuterated specific fragment ions was developed for simple and rapid automated data acquisition. Such high-throughput analytical protocol allowed us to measure the relative contribution of two different metabolic pathways leading to phosphatidylcholine without performing technically more demanding and time-consuming MS/MS or LC/MS experiments.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Automation / methods
  • Chromatography, Liquid
  • Deuterium
  • Mass Spectrometry
  • Phosphatidylcholines / biosynthesis*
  • Plasmodium falciparum / metabolism*
  • Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization

Substances

  • Phosphatidylcholines
  • Deuterium