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Unit of Mass Spectrometry

Claudio Medana - PI

Claudio Medana
Biographical sketch

Full professor of Analytical Chemistry, Molecular Biotechnology Dept, UniTO

Main group members
Main group members
  • Federica Dal Bello associate professor
  • Riccardo Aigotti senior technician (ep)
  • Enrica Mecarelli junior technician
  • Valentina Schiavo research fellow
  • Alberto Asteggiano, Sandra Vietti, Alex Africano PhD students 
  • 5 Graduate and 3 undergraduate students belong to the group

Research activity

The group research activity is focused on the development of analytical mass spectrometry (MS) methods for the identification, structure determination and quantification of bioactive molecules. Group professors serve as mentor and tutor of Master degrees in Biotechnology, Chemistry, and Biology and PhD degree in Chemical and Materials Sciences. Group members have developed collaborations and agreements with companies, public control, forensic and research organizations. The main third mission activity of the laboratory is related to the quality control of the mineral waters of the springs of central-northwestern Italy. The laboratory instrumentation involves ten hyphenated mass spectrometers: GC (gas chromatography)-MS, HPLC (liquid chromatography)-MS and ICP (inductively coupled plasma)-MS. The research projects deal with development and application of new analytical methods both in the field of small molecules (metabolomics, lipidomics, enviromics) and macromolecules (proteomics). The most recent research topics are: 

Characterization of mineral water quality 

official quality control of physical-chemical parameters: inorganic anions and cations by ion chromatography and trace elements by ICP-MS; evaluation of volatile organic pollutants by purge&trap-GC-MS and stirring bar sorptive extraction (SBSE)-GC-MS; study of food contact materials: release of contaminants via LC-MS (fg. 1). 

Quantitation of bioactive peptides and proteins 

Development and validation of targeted nanoLC-HRMS methods to detect neuropeptides (GnRH, AMH) in human plasma and nervous tissues of laboratory animals; identification and quantitation of proteins in biological/ archaeological samples. 

Characterization of plant secondary metabolites 

Development and validation of targeted GC and HPLCMS methods to quantify plant bioactive principles in vegetal extracts; Plant metabolomics to identify putative biomarkers of exposure to pathogens. 

Targeted and untargeted metabolomics 

molecular determination of biochemicals: endogenous toxins formed by interaction of sugars and proteins; enzymatic products of drugs and lipid molecules; food bioactive components quantitation. 

Assessment of the transformation of bioactive molecules by HPLC coupled to high resolution multistage mass spectrometry 

to study drug metabolism, environmental fate of drugs and toxics compounds. - Studies about MS fragmentation pathways and application to structural determination of synthetic intermediates or unknown molecules. These studies are centered on molecular identification of metabolites or degradants formed in vitro, in vivo or in lab simulation based on photocatalytic experiments (Fig. 2)

We are planning to complete and extend our research projects dealing about: i) drinking water quality characterization (by developing and applying new sensitive methods aimed to identify and quantify emerging pollutants and contaminants); ii) protein and peptide identification and quantitation (by developing and applying new protocols for allergens and biomarkers account); iii) studies on pathology conditions by the use of metabolomics (analytical and bioinformatics) protocols in order to characterize extracellular vesicles, microbiome and bacterial/human biomarkers.

  • PRIN 2020 20204YRYS5 (Impact of microplastics on reproduction and development) 
     
  • H2020-MSCA-RISE-2020 101007578 (SusWater) 
     
  • HORIZON-MSCA-2022-DN-01 101119555 (In2aquas) 
     
  • Contract agreements with Fiat Research Center, Sanof, IDI and multiple mineral water bottling companies 
     
  • FSE Piemonte Regional financing of apprentice PhD 2530726 (RP/2020/607) and 2544191 (RP/2021/959)

E. Mecarelli, R. Aigotti, A. Asteggiano, P. Giacobini, M. Chasles, Y. Tillet, F. Dal Bello, C. Medana. Quantitation of endogenous GnRH by validated nanoHPLC-HRMS method: a pilot study on ewes plasma. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry 414, 7623-7634 (2022). doi: 10.1007/s00216-022-04293-z 

F. Dal Bello, E. Mecarelli, R. Aigotti, E. Davoli, P. Calza, C. Medana. Development and application of high resolution mass spectrometry analytical method to study and identify the photoinduced transformation products of environmental pollutants. Journal of Environmental Management 308, 114573 (2022). doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.114573 

P. Calza, B. Guarino, F. Dal Bello, A. Dioni, M. Bergero, C. Medana. Integrated approach for the analysis of neonicotinoids in fruits and food matrices. Food Chemistry 372, 131153 (2022). doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2021.131153 

Asteggiano, A. Occhipinti, A. Capuzzo, E. Mecarelli, R. Aigotti, C. Medana. Quali-Quantitative characterization of volatile and non-volatile compounds in Protium heptaphyllum (Aubl.) Marchand resin by GC-MS validated method, GC-FID and HPLC-HRMS2. Molecules 26, 1447 (2021). doi: 10.3390/molecules26051447 

F. Dal Bello, C. Lamberti, M. Giribaldi, C. Garino, M. Locatelli, D. Gastaldi, C. Medana, L. Cavallarin, M. Arlorio, M. G. Giufrida. Multi-target detection of egg white and pig gelatin fining agents in Nebbiolo-based aged red wine by means of nanoHPLC-HRMS. Food Chemistry 345, 128822 (2021). doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2020.128822 

F. Dal Bello, M. Zorzi, R. Aigotti, D. Medica, V. Fanelli, V. Cantaluppi, E. Amante, V.T. Orlandi, C. Medana. Targeted and untargeted quantification of quorum sensing signaling molecules in bacterial cultures and biological samples via HPLC-TQ MS techniques. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry 413, 853-864 (2021). doi: 10.1007/s00216-020-03040-6 

F. Dal Bello, C. Medana, M. Zorzi, B. Kuck, D. Fabbri, P. Calza. LC-MS analytical determination of gabapentin transformation products by heterogeneous photocatalysis and environmental evaluation. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry 34, e8925 (2020). doi: 10.1002/rcm.8925 

F. Dal Bello, R. Aigotti, M. Zorzi, C. Medana. Multi-Analyte MS Based Investigation in Relation to the Illicit Treatment of Fish Products with Hydrogen Peroxide. Toxics 8, 2 (2020). doi: 10.3390/toxics8010002 

V. Santoro, C. Baiocchi, F. Dal Bello, D. Gastaldi, R. Aigotti, M. Zorzi, A. Pellegrino, E. Forte, F. Romaniello, M. Magni, M. Fontana, M. Somenzi, C. Medana. Formation of by-products during chemical interesterification of lipids. Detection and characterization of dialkyl ketones by nonaqueous reversed-phase LC-HRMS and GC-MS. Journal of Chromatography A 1581-1582, 63-70 (2018). doi: 10.1016/j.chroma.2018.11.001. 

F. Dal Bello, V. Santoro, V Scarpino, C. Martano, R. Aigotti, A. Chiappa, E. Davoli and C. Medana. Antineoplastic drugs determination by HPLC/HRMSn to monitor occupational exposure. Drug Testing and Analysis 8, 730-737 (2016). doi:10.1002/dta.1827
 


Link Scopus profile: https://www.scopus.com/authid/ detail.uri?authorId=6602482783

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