Mass spectrometry-based quantification of pseudouridine in RNA

J Am Soc Mass Spectrom. 2011 Aug;22(8):1363-72. doi: 10.1007/s13361-011-0137-5. Epub 2011 May 3.

Abstract

Direct detection of pseudouridine (ψ), an isomer of uridine, in RNA is challenging. The most popular method requires chemical derivatization using N-cyclohexyl-N'-β-(4-methylmorpholinum ethyl) carbodiimide p-tosylate (CMCT) followed by radiolabeled primer extension mediated by reverse transcriptase. More recently, mass spectrometry (MS)-based approaches for sequence placement of pseudouridine in RNA have been developed. Nearly all of these approaches, however, only yield qualitative information regarding the presence or absence of pseudouridine in a given RNA population. Here, we have extended a previously developed liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method to enable both the qualitative and quantitative analysis of pseudouridine. Quantitative selected reaction monitoring (SRM) assays were developed using synthetic oligonucleotides, with or without pseudouridine, and the results yielded a linear relationship between the ion abundance of the pseudouridine-specific fragment ion and the amount of pseudouridine-containing oligonucleotide present in the original sample. Using this quantitative SRM assay, the extent of pseudouridine hypomodification in the conserved T-loop of tRNA isolated from two different Escherichia coli strains was established.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Base Sequence
  • CME-Carbodiimide / analogs & derivatives
  • Calibration
  • Chromatography, Liquid
  • Escherichia coli / chemistry
  • Escherichia coli / genetics
  • Least-Squares Analysis
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Pseudouridine / analysis*
  • RNA, Bacterial / chemistry
  • RNA, Transfer / chemistry*
  • Static Electricity
  • Tandem Mass Spectrometry / methods*

Substances

  • RNA, Bacterial
  • Pseudouridine
  • 1-cyclohexyl-3-(2-(4-morpholinyl)ethyl)carbodiimide
  • CME-Carbodiimide
  • RNA, Transfer