Near edge X-ray absorption mass spectrometry of gas phase proteins:the influence of protein size

Multiply protonated peptides and proteins in the gas phase can respond to near edge X-ray absorption in three different ways: (i) non dissociative ionization and ionization accompanied by loss of small neutrals, both known to dominate for proteins with masses in the 10 kDa range. (ii) Formation of immonium ions, dominating for peptides in the 1 kDa range. (iii) Backbone scission leading to sequence ions which is typically weaker and has mainly been observed for peptides in the 1 kDa range. We have studied carbon 1s photoexcitation and photoionization for a series of peptides and proteins with masses covering the range from 0.5 kDa to more than 10 kDa. The gas phase protonated molecules were trapped in a radiofrequency ion trap and exposed to synchrotron radiation. Time of flight mass spectrometry was employed for investigation of the photoionization and photofragmentation processes. A smooth transition from the photofragmentation regime to the non-dissociative photoionization regime is observed. Mass spectra are most complex in the few kDa regime, where non-dissociative ionization, backbone scission and immonium ion formation coexist. The observed correlation between protein size and fragmentation, i.e. radiation damage, is of relevance for soft X-ray microscopy

Return rates of online slot machines in trial mode influence players’ errors of estimation

In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the impact of an exaggerated return rate on players’ errors of estimation and irrational beliefs. Conventional return rates for slot machines are set around 92%, whereas online gambling websites often use much higher return rates during demonstration (demo) play. Seventy college students were randomly assigned to play a virtual slot machine programmed to reflect a 92% return rate (control group) or a 180% return rate (experimental group). They completed self-reported measures of errors of estimation (e.g., chances of winning and losing) and irrational beliefs (e.g., having already won guarantees future wins) before and after playing a virtual slot machine for 10 min. Results from mixed 2 × 2 analyses of variance revealed statistically significant differences in errors of estimation (i.e., chances of winning, chances of winning the jackpot, chances of neither winning nor losing) between the experimental and control groups. Furthermore, participants estimated having less chance of losing during a slot machine session after exposure to the exaggerated return rate. Given the fact that many online gambling websites use similar exaggerated return rates during the demo period of their virtual slot machines, the present results suggest that this tactic may incite players to behave differently than they would otherwise during a gambling session. Implications for responsible gambling strategies are discussed. La présente étude visait à évaluer l’impact d’un taux exagéré de retour sur les erreurs d’estimation et les croyances irrationnelles des joueurs. Les taux de retour conventionnels pour les machines à sous sont établis à environ 92%, tandis que les sites de jeux en ligne utilisent souvent des taux de retour beaucoup plus élevés dans les démonstrations de jeux. Soixante-dix étudiants universitaires ont été assignés au hasard à une machine à sous virtuelle programmée qui reflète un taux de retour de 92 % (groupe témoin) ou une autre affichant un taux de retour de 180 % (groupe expérimental). Ils ont complété des mesures auto-déclarées des erreurs d’estimation (p. ex., les chances de gagner et de perdre) et des croyances irrationnelles (p. ex., avoir déjà gagné garantit des gains futurs) avant et après avoir joué à une machine à sous virtuelle pendant 10 minutes. Les résultats d’analyses de la variance (mixte 2 x 2) ont révélé des différences statistiquement significatives dans les erreurs d’estimation (c’est-à-dire les chances de gagner, les chances de gagner le jackpot, les chances de ne pas gagner ni de perdre) entre le groupe expérimental et le groupe témoin. De plus, les participants ont estimé avoir moins de chances de perdre pendant une séance de machine à sous après avoir été exposés au taux de retour exagéré. Étant donné que de nombreux sites de jeux en ligne utilisent des taux de retour exagérés similaires pendant la démonstration de leurs machines à sous virtuelles, les résultats actuels suggèrent que cette tactique peut inciter les joueurs à se comporter différemment que pendant une séance de jeu avec une machine affichant un taux de retour conventionnel. On y aborde les conséquences pour les stratégies de jeu responsable

Single-photon absorption of isolated collagen mimetic peptides and triple-helix models in the VUV-X energy range

Cartilage and tendons owe their special mechanical properties to the fibrous collagen structure. These strong fibrils are aggregates of a sub-unit consisting of three collagen proteins wound around each other in a triple helix. Even though collagen is the most abundant protein in the human body, the response of this protein complex to ionizing radiation has never been studied. In this work, we probe the direct effects of VUV and soft X-ray photons on isolated models of the collagen triple helix, by coupling a tandem mass spectrometer to a synchrotron beamline. Single-photon absorption is found to induce electronic excitation, ionization and conversion into internal energy leading to inter- and intra-molecular fragmentation, mainly due to Gly-Pro peptide bond cleavages. Our results indicate that increasing the photon energy from 14 to 22 eV reduces fragmentation. We explain this surprising behavior by a smooth transition from excitation to ionization occurring with increasing photon energy. Moreover, our data support the assumption of a stabilization of the triple helix models by proline hydroxylation via intra-complex stereoelectronic effects, instead of the influence of solvent

Mass Spectral Signatures of Complex Post-Translational Modifications in Proteins: A Proof-of-Principle Based on X-ray Irradiated Vancomycin

Characterizing post-translational modifications (PTM) of proteins is of key relevance for the understanding of many biological processes, as these covalent modifications strongly influence or even determine protein function. Among the different analytical techniques available, mass spectrometry is attracting growing attention because recent instrumental and computational improvements have led to a massive rise of the number of PTM sites that can be identified and quantified. However, multiple PTM occurring at adjacent amino acid residues can lead to complex and dense chemical patterns that are a challenge to characterize. By means of X-ray synchrotron radiation coupled to mass spectrometry, and through the test-case of the glycopeptide antibiotic vancomycin, we show that such a pattern has a unique and robust signature in terms of photon energy and molecular environment. This highlights the potential of this technique in proteomics and its value as a tool to understand the biological roles of PTM

Multi-modal image fusion for small animal studies in in-line PET /3T MRI

Congrès sous l’égide de la Société Française de Génie Biologique et Médical (SFGBM).National audienceIn the framework of small animal multi-modal imaging, the current progression of the IMAPPI project is illustrated by the design of an in-line PET/MRI prototype, coupled to a dedicated multi-resolution registration method allowing the robust fusion of data coming from both modalities. The first results show a good alignment of the data from tumor imaging at the level of the abdomen

Stabilities of nanohydrated thymine radical cations: insights from multiphoton ionization experiments and ab initio calculations

Multi-photon ionization experiments have been carried out on thymine-water clusters in the gas phase. Metastable H2O loss from T+(H2O)n was observed at n ≥ 3 only. Ab initio quantum-chemical calculations of a large range of optimized T+(H2O)n conformers have been performed up to n = 4, enabling binding energies of water to be derived. These decrease smoothly with n, consistent with the general trend of increasing metastable H2O loss in the experimental data. The lowest-energy conformers of T+(H2O)3 and T+(H2O)4 feature intermolecular bonding via charge-dipole interactions, in contrast with the purely hydrogen-bonded neutrals. We found no evidence for a closed hydration shell at n = 4, also contrasting with studies of neutral clusters

The low-density lipoprotein receptor and apolipoprotein E associated with CCHFV particles mediate CCHFV entry into cells

The Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) is an emerging pathogen of the Orthonairovirus genus that can cause severe and often lethal hemorrhagic diseases in humans. CCHFV has a broad tropism and can infect a variety of species and tissues. Here, by using gene silencing, blocking antibodies or soluble receptor fragments, we identify the low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDL-R) as a CCHFV entry factor. The LDL-R facilitates binding of CCHFV particles but does not allow entry of Hazara virus (HAZV), another member of the genus. In addition, we show that apolipoprotein E (apoE), an exchangeable protein that mediates LDL/LDL-R interaction, is incorporated on CCHFV particles, though not on HAZV particles, and enhances their specific infectivity by promoting an LDL-R dependent entry. Finally, we show that molecules that decrease LDL-R from the surface of target cells could inhibit CCHFV infection. Our study highlights that CCHFV takes advantage of a lipoprotein receptor and recruits its natural ligand to promote entry into cells

MedShapeNet -- A Large-Scale Dataset of 3D Medical Shapes for Computer Vision

Prior to the deep learning era, shape was commonly used to describe the objects. Nowadays, state-of-the-art (SOTA) algorithms in medical imaging are predominantly diverging from computer vision, where voxel grids, meshes, point clouds, and implicit surface models are used. This is seen from numerous shape-related publications in premier vision conferences as well as the growing popularity of ShapeNet (about 51,300 models) and Princeton ModelNet (127,915 models). For the medical domain, we present a large collection of anatomical shapes (e.g., bones, organs, vessels) and 3D models of surgical instrument, called MedShapeNet, created to facilitate the translation of data-driven vision algorithms to medical applications and to adapt SOTA vision algorithms to medical problems. As a unique feature, we directly model the majority of shapes on the imaging data of real patients. As of today, MedShapeNet includes 23 dataset with more than 100,000 shapes that are paired with annotations (ground truth). Our data is freely accessible via a web interface and a Python application programming interface (API) and can be used for discriminative, reconstructive, and variational benchmarks as well as various applications in virtual, augmented, or mixed reality, and 3D printing. Exemplary, we present use cases in the fields of classification of brain tumors, facial and skull reconstructions, multi-class anatomy completion, education, and 3D printing. In future, we will extend the data and improve the interfaces. The project pages are: https://medshapenet.ikim.nrw/ and https://github.com/Jianningli/medshapenet-feedbackComment: 16 page

Radio-induced processes within peptidic models of the collagen triple helix in the gas phase

Le collagène est la protéine la plus abondante dans les mammifères, et le constituant principal de la matrice extracellulaire du cartilage. Les propriétés mécaniques de ce tissu sont dues à la structure particulière du collagène : la triple hélice. Lors de cette thèse, nous nous sommes intéressés à des peptides modèles de la triple hélice du collagène en phase gazeuse, ce qui permet l’étude de leurs propriétés intrinsèques, dont les processus fondamentaux induits par des rayonnements ionisants. Une étude structurale de ces systèmes par spectrométrie de mobilité ionique a permis de s’assurer qu’ils conservent bien leurs propriétés structurales et de stabilité en l’absence de solvant. De plus, cette stabilité se manifeste aussi lors de l’irradiation par photons ionisants dans un piège à ions. Par ailleurs, nous avons observé, grâce à la spectrométrie de masse, une transition entre photo-excitation et photo-ionisation lorsque l’énergie du photon absorbé augmente dans la gamme VUV-X. Une partie de cette énergie est également redistribuée dans les modes de vibration du système, croît avec l’énergie du photon, et induit la fragmentation inter puis intramoléculaire de la triple hélice. Nous avons également irradié pour la première fois des peptides en phase gazeuse par un faisceau d’ions carbones à l’énergie cinétique pertinente dans le contexte de l’hadronthérapie. Un processus non-observé avec les photons a été mis en évidence : le détachement de proton. Enfin, la validation d’un nouveau dispositif expérimental dédié à l’irradiation de protéines et brins d’ADN par des ions en faisceaux croisés, ainsi que les premiers résultats obtenus, seront abordés.Collagen is the most abundant protein in mammals, and the main constituent of the extracellular matrix of cartilage. The mechanical properties of this tissue are due to the particular triple helical structure of collagen. In this thesis, we focused on peptidic models of the collagen triple helix in thegas phase, which allows reaching their intrinsic properties, including fundamental processes induced by ionizing radiations. An ion mobility spectrometry study of these systems proved that they retain their structural and stability properties in the absence of solvent. In addition, these stability properties also play a role after irradiation with ionizing photons in an ion trap. Furthermore, we have observed, thanks to mass spectrometry, a transition between photo-excitation and photoionization as the energy of the absorbed photon increases in the VUV-X range. Part of this energy is also redistributed in the vibration modes of the system, increases with photon energy, and induces intramolecular as well as intramolecular fragmentation of the triple helix. For the first time, we irradiated peptides in the gas phase by a carbon ion beam having a kinetic energy relevant in the context of hadrontherapy. A process that was absent from studies with photons has been observed : proton detachment. In the last chapter, the validation of a new experimental device dedicated to the irradiation of proteins and DNA strands in a cross-beam configuration, as well as the first results obtained, will be reported

Processus induits par l'irradiation de modèles peptidiques de la triple hélice du collagène en phase gazeuse

Collagen is the most abundant protein in mammals, and the main constituent of the extracellular matrix of cartilage. The mechanical properties of this tissue are due to the particular triple helical structure of collagen. In this thesis, we focused on peptidic models of the collagen triple helix in thegas phase, which allows reaching their intrinsic properties, including fundamental processes induced by ionizing radiations. An ion mobility spectrometry study of these systems proved that they retain their structural and stability properties in the absence of solvent. In addition, these stability properties also play a role after irradiation with ionizing photons in an ion trap. Furthermore, we have observed, thanks to mass spectrometry, a transition between photo-excitation and photoionization as the energy of the absorbed photon increases in the VUV-X range. Part of this energy is also redistributed in the vibration modes of the system, increases with photon energy, and induces intramolecular as well as intramolecular fragmentation of the triple helix. For the first time, we irradiated peptides in the gas phase by a carbon ion beam having a kinetic energy relevant in the context of hadrontherapy. A process that was absent from studies with photons has been observed : proton detachment. In the last chapter, the validation of a new experimental device dedicated to the irradiation of proteins and DNA strands in a cross-beam configuration, as well as the first results obtained, will be reported.Le collagène est la protéine la plus abondante dans les mammifères, et le constituant principal de la matrice extracellulaire du cartilage. Les propriétés mécaniques de ce tissu sont dues à la structure particulière du collagène : la triple hélice. Lors de cette thèse, nous nous sommes intéressés à des peptides modèles de la triple hélice du collagène en phase gazeuse, ce qui permet l’étude de leurs propriétés intrinsèques, dont les processus fondamentaux induits par des rayonnements ionisants. Une étude structurale de ces systèmes par spectrométrie de mobilité ionique a permis de s’assurer qu’ils conservent bien leurs propriétés structurales et de stabilité en l’absence de solvant. De plus, cette stabilité se manifeste aussi lors de l’irradiation par photons ionisants dans un piège à ions. Par ailleurs, nous avons observé, grâce à la spectrométrie de masse, une transition entre photo-excitation et photo-ionisation lorsque l’énergie du photon absorbé augmente dans la gamme VUV-X. Une partie de cette énergie est également redistribuée dans les modes de vibration du système, croît avec l’énergie du photon, et induit la fragmentation inter puis intramoléculaire de la triple hélice. Nous avons également irradié pour la première fois des peptides en phase gazeuse par un faisceau d’ions carbones à l’énergie cinétique pertinente dans le contexte de l’hadronthérapie. Un processus non-observé avec les photons a été mis en évidence : le détachement de proton. Enfin, la validation d’un nouveau dispositif expérimental dédié à l’irradiation de protéines et brins d’ADN par des ions en faisceaux croisés, ainsi que les premiers résultats obtenus, seront abordés