Abstract
The SID methodology, for Stable Isotope Dilution, is a widely applied methodology for peptides and proteins analysis in mass spectrometry, usually associated with atmospheric pressure ionisation techniques. This thesis is consequently devoted to the application of SID methodology in matrix assisted laser desorption/ionisation (MALDI) mass spectrometry to quantify receptor/ligand interaction in pharmacology. Indeed, a great number of pathologies involve membrane receptors like G protein coupled receptors (GPCR) in interaction with several ligands, frequently peptides. Particularly, the V1A receptor, is related to vasoconstriction activity of the peptide hormone AVP (arginine vasopressine) and contraction of muscular cells as well as many social behaviors. This receptor was chosen as model, requiring the chemical labelling of the ligand Homo-HO-LVA (Hydroxy Linear Vasopressin Antagonist), selected for its high affinity towards the V1A receptor in order to introduce the entity on which relies the quantification in SID/MALDI. This methodology is applied through the covalent binding of HCCA (4-hydroxy-α-cyanocinnamic acid) matrix, usually encountered in peptide analysis, to obtain the modified peptide (JMV4854) through N-terminal acylation. The objective is to take advantage of the use of both HCCA tagging and HCCE (4-hydroxy-α-cinnamic methyl ester) matrix for the specific and sensitive detection of compounds down to picomolar concentrations. Importantly, quantification with SID requires a calibration protocol and a statistical validation before pharmacological assays. This consists in the measurement of JMV4854 affinity towards V1A-R through thermodynamic experiments in order to quantify the dissociation constant (Kd) and determine afterwards constants for untagged molecules by competitive binding assays. Furthermore, a second receptor model, CCKB-R (cholecystokinine B receptor), was then studied to validate the quantification methodology. Facing the renewed interest in pharmaceutic industry of kinetic experiments for dissociation constant measurement, it would be interesting to apply this new methodology to drug discovery, representing a relevant alternative to current “gold-standard” methodologies such as radioactivity and fluorescence. A second field of research has been initiated with a covalent labelling designed to enhance peptide fragmentation for electrospray-based (ESI-MS/MS) tandem mass spectrometry measurements. Preliminary studies with the synthesis of pre-formed ions like N-terminal substitution with pyridinium entities gave very promising results opening the way of other quantification strategies.