Development of an analytical method coupling cell membrane chromatography with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry via microextraction by packed sorbent and its application in the screening of volatile active compounds in natural products

Natural products (NPs) are important sources of lead compounds in modern drug discovery. To facilitate the screening of volatile active compounds in NPs, we have developed a new biochromatography method that uses rat vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC), which are rich in L-type calcium channels (LCC), to prepare the stationary phase. This integrated method, which couples cell membrane chromatography (CMC) with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) via microextraction by packed sorbent (MEPS) technology, has been termed VSMC/CMC-MEPS-GC-MS. Methodological validation confirmed its specificity, reliability and convenience. Screening results for Radix Angelicae Dahuricae and Fructus Cnidii obtained using VSMC/CMC-MEPS-GC-MS were consistent with those obtained using VSMC/CMC-offline-GC-MS. MEPS connection plays as simplified solid-phase extraction and replaces the uncontrollable evaporation operation in reported offline connections, so our new method is supposed to be more efficient and reliable than the offline ones, especially for compounds that are volatile, thermally unstable or difficult to purify. In application, senkyunolide A and ligustilide were preliminary identified as the volatile active components in Rhizoma Chuanxiong. We have thus confirmed the suitability of VSMC/CMC-MEPS-GC-MS for volatile active compounds screening in NP.