Stable isotope labeling experiments using mass spectrometry have been employed to investigate carbon flow levels (metabolic flux) in mammalian, plant, and microbial cells. To achieve a more precise (13)C-metabolic flux analysis ((13)C-MFA), novel fragmentations of tert-butyldimethylsilyl (TBDMS)-amino acids were investigated by gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). The product ion scan analyses of 15 TBDMS-amino acids revealed 24 novel fragment ions. The amino acid-derived carbons included in the five fragment ions were identified by the analyses of (13)C-labeled authentic standards. The identification of the fragment ion at m/z 170 indicated that the isotopic abundance of S-methyl carbon in methionine could be determined from the cleavage of C5 in the precursor of [M-159](+) (m/z 218). It was also confirmed that the precision of (13)C-MFA in Escherichia coli central carbon metabolism could be improved by introducing (13)C-labeling data derived from novel fragmentations. Graphical Abstract Novel collision-induced dissociation fragmentations of tert-butyldimethylsilyl amino acids were investigated and identified by GC-MS/MS.
Keywords: 13C-metabolic flux analysis; Amino acids; Escherichia coli; Fragmentation; GC-MS/MS.