Methods for assaying alpha-L-iduronidase enzymatic activity

1. A method for assaying α-L-iduronidase enzymatic activity, comprising:

(a) incubating an α-L-iduronidase substrate which has the formula:

Wherein m is an integer from 2 to 12,

with α-L-iduronidase for a pre-determined time to provide a solution comprising an α-L-iduronidase product;

(b) adding a buffer to the solution comprising the α-L-iduronidase product to quench the enzyme reaction;

(c) adding an α-L-iduronidase internal standard to the solution comprising the α-L-iduronidase product to provide a solution comprising the α-L-iduronidase product and α-L-iduronidase internal standard;

(d) extracting the solution comprising the α-L-iduronidase product and α-L-iduronidase internal standard with an organic solvent to provide an organic phase that includes the α-L-iduronidase product and α-L-iduronidase internal standard; and

(e) determining the quantity of the α-L-iduronidase product.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the solution comprising α-L-iduronidase is obtained by contacting a sample containing α-L-iduronidase with a first buffer solution.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the sample is a blood sample.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the sample is a dried blood spot from a newborn screening card.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the substrate has a structure wherein m is 4.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the internal standard has the formula:

wherein R is independently at each occurrence H or D and n is an integer from 2 to 12.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the internal standard is (N-[3′-(tert-butoxycarbonylamino)-propyl]) 7-hydroxycoumarin-4-acetamide.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the quantity of the α-L-iduronidase product comprises determining the ratio of the α-L-iduronidase product to α-L-iduronidase internal standard comprises mass spectrometric analysis.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the quantity of the α-L-iduronidase product comprises tandem mass spectrometric analysis.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the quantity of the α-L-iduronidase product comprises tandem mass spectrometric analysis in which the parent ions of the product and internal standard are generated, isolated, and subjected to collision-induced dissociation to provide product fragment ions and internal standard fragment ions.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein determining the quantity of the α-L-iduronidase product comprises comparing the peak intensities of the product fragment ions and internal standard fragment ions to calculate the amount of α-L-iduronidase product.

12. The method of claim 4 further comprising using the amount of α-L-iduronidase product to determine whether the dried blood sample is from a candidate for treatment for Mucopolysaccharidosis Type-I.

13. A method for screening newborns for Mucopolysaccharidosis Type-I, comprising:

(a) contacting a dried blood sample from a newborn screening card with a first buffer solution to provide a solution comprising α-L-iduronidase;

(b) adding an α-L-iduronidase substrate which has the formula:

Wherein m is an integer from 2 to 12,

to the solution comprising α-L-iduronidase and incubating the substrate with the enzyme for a pre-determined time to provide a solution comprising an α-L-iduronidase product;

(c) adding a second buffer to the solution comprising the α-L-iduronidase product to quench the enzyme reaction;

(d) adding an α-L-iduronidase internal standard to the solution comprising the α-L-iduronidase product to provide a solution comprising the α-L-iduronidase product and α-L-iduronidase internal standard;

(e) extracting the solution comprising the α-L-iduronidase product and α-L-iduronidase internal standard with an organic solvent to provide an organic phase that includes the α-L-iduronidase product and α-L-iduronidase internal standard;

(f) determining the quantity of the α-L-iduronidase product by tandem mass spectrometric analysis, comprising

(i) generating, isolating, and subjecting the parent ions of the product and internal standard to collision-induced dissociation to provide product fragment ions and internal standard fragment ions, and

(ii) comparing the ion peak intensities of the product fragment ions and internal standard fragment ions to calculate the amount of α-L-iduronidase product; and

(g) using the amount of α-L-iduronidase product to predict whether the newborn is a candidate for treatment of Mucopolysaccharidosis Type-I.

14. A compound having the formula:

wherein m is an integer from 2 to 12.

15. A compound of claim 14 , wherein m is 4.

16. A method for assaying α-L-iduronidase enzymatic activity, comprising:

(a) contacting a dried blood sample with a first buffer solution to provide a solution comprising α-L-iduronidase;

(b) adding an α-L-iduronidase substrate which has the formula:

Wherein m is an integer from 2 to 12,

to the solution comprising α-L-iduronidase and incubating the substrate with the enzyme for a pre-determined time to provide a solution comprising an α-L-iduronidase product;

(c) adding a second buffer to the solution comprising the α-L-iduronidase product to quench the enzyme reaction;

(d) separating the α-L-iduronidase product from the enzyme reaction; and

(e) measuring the fluorescence intensity of a solution containing the α-L-iduronidase product.