A study on the mechanism of anti-oxidant and pro-oxidant properties of the natural compound resveratrol by mass spectrometry
Tamboli Vajir and Paolo Tosi, Atomic and Molecular Physics Laboratory -Department of Physics, Univ. Trento
Ines Mancini, Bio-organic Chemistry Laboratory- Department of Physics, Univ. Trento
Mass spectrometry (MS) is a versatile and sensitive technique, especially useful for the analysis of biomolecules when it uses the electrospray ionization (ESI), the soft ion source developed by J. B. Fenn (Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry, 2002). Resveratrol is a natural molecule present in grapes, red wine and many other dietary sources. In the last years it has attracted much interest for its biological activities, including the anti-oxidatant and pro-oxidant effects which have been related to its role in cancer chemoprevention. In my activity I am studying for the first time by ESI-MS technique this effect of resveratrol, reproducing the conditions where this natural molecule is implied in vivo in the reaction with reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the presence of Cu(II) ions. The conditions of MS measurements include: detection of the ions in positive and negative mode, tandem fragmentation experiments, use of different ion sources (ESI and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI)) and analyzers (ion trap and triple quadrupole). By analyzing resveratrol in the presence of copper ions, the present results indicate the formation of the metal complex of resveratrol and the same product as in natural process. Preliminary data have been obtained for a synthetic analogue of resveratrol and other compounds with structural modifications have been planned to be synthesised and analysed, in order to study their different mechanism.