Evaluation of ion mobility for the separation of glycoconjugate isomers due to different types of sialic acid linkage, at the intact glycoprotein, glycopeptide and glycan level.

The study of protein glycosylation can be regarded as an intricate but very important task, making glycomics one of the most challenging and interesting, albeit under-researched, type of "omics" science. Complexity escalates remarkably when considering that carbohydrates can form severely branched structures with many different constituents, which often leads to the formation of multiple isomers. In this regard, ion mobility (IM) spectrometry has recently demonstrated its power for the separation of isomeric compounds. In the present work, the potential of traveling wave IM (TWIMS) for the separation of isomeric glycoconjugates was evaluated, using mouse transferrin (mTf) as model glycoprotein. Particularly, we aim to assess the performance of this platform for the separation of isomeric glycoconjugates due to the type of sialic acid linkage, at the intact glycoprotein, glycopeptide and glycan level. Straightforward separation of isomers was achieved with the analysis of released glycans, as opposed to the glycopeptides which showed a more complex pattern. Finally, the developed methodology was applied to serum samples of mice, to investigate its robustness when analyzing real complex samples. BIOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Ion mobility mass spectrometry is a promising analytical technique for the separation of glycoconjugate isomers due to type of sialic acid linkage. The impact of such a small modification in the glycan structure is more evident in smaller analytes, reason why the analysis of free glycans was easier compared to the intact protein or the glycopeptides. The established methodology could be regarded as starting point in the separation of highly decorated glycoconjugates. This is an important topic nowadays, as differences in the abundance of some glycan isomers could be the key for the early diagnosis, control or differentiation of certain diseases, such as inflammation or cancer.

Classification of congenital disorders of glycosylation based on analysis of transferrin glycopeptides by capillary liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.

In this work, we describe a multivariate data analysis approach for data exploration and classification of the complex and large data sets generated to study the alteration of human transferrin (Tf) N-glycopeptides in patients with congenital disorders of glycosylation (CDG). Tf from healthy individuals and two types of CDG patients (CDG-I and CDG-II) is purified by immunoextraction from serum samples before trypsin digestion and separation by capillary liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (CapLC-MS). Following a targeted data analysis approach, partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) is applied to the relative abundance of Tf glycopeptide glycoforms obtained after integration of the extracted ion chromatograms of the different samples. The performance of PLS-DA for classification of the different samples and for providing a novel insight into Tf glycopeptide glycoforms alteration in CDGs is demonstrated. Only six out of fourteen of the detected glycoforms are enough for an accurate classification. This small glycoform set may be considered a sensitive and specific novel biomarker panel for CDGs.

Improved tryptic digestion assisted with an acid-labile anionic surfactant for the separation and characterization of glycopeptide glycoforms of a proteolytic-resistant glycoprotein by capillary electrophoresis time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

Certain glycoproteins are rather difficult to digest due to compacted tertiary or quaternary structures. In a previous study, a capillary LC coupled to TOF-MS (µLC-TOF-MS) method was developed for the detection and characterization of the glycopeptide glycoforms of human transferrin (Tf), a proteolytic resistant glycoprotein, in serum samples. After immunoaffinity purification, Tf was digested with trypsin in the presence of RapiGest(®) and µLC-TOF-MS analyses permitted to detect the N413 and N611 glycopeptide glycoforms. Conversely, the use of this surfactant, albeit mandatory to quantitatively digest the isolated Tf, proved detrimental to CE-TOF-MS analysis due to its interaction with the inner surface of the silica capillary walls. As CE is usually regarded as an interesting alternative to other separation techniques (low consumption of reagents, excellent separation efficiency, and reduced analysis times), in this work, the undesirable interferences of the surfactant have been removed to allow the correct separation and detection of Tf glycoforms by CE-TOF-MS. Moreover, the digestion protocol described by the RapiGest(®) manufacturer has been modified to minimize desialylation of Tf glycopeptide glycoforms. The new developed CE-TOF-MS methodology has been then compared with the former µLC-TOF-MS by means of sensitivity and separation efficiency of Tf glycopeptide glycoforms in the standard glycoprotein. Additionally, Tf glycopeptide glycoforms from serum of healthy volunteers and patients with congenital disorders of glycosylation have also been analyzed following the developed methodology.

Modelling the electrophoretic migration behaviour of peptides and glycopeptides from glycoprotein digests in capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry.

In this study, the classical semiempirical relationships between the electrophoretic mobility and the charge-to-mass ratio (me vs. q/M(α)) were used to model the migration behaviour of peptides and glycopeptides originated from the digestion of recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO), a biologically and therapeutically relevant glycoprotein. The Stoke's law (α=1/3), the classical polymer model (α=1/2) and the Offord's surface law (α=2/3) were evaluated to predict migration of peptides and glycopeptides, with and without sialic acids (SiA), in rhEPO digested with trypsin and trypsin-neuraminidase. The Stoke's law resulted in better correlations for the set of peptides used to evaluate the models, while glycopeptides fitted better with the classical polymer model. Once predicted migration times with both models, it was easy to simulate their separation electropherogram. Results were later validated predicting migration and simulating separation of a different set of rhEPO glycopeptides and also human transferrin (Tf) peptides and glycopeptides. The excellent agreement between the experimental and the simulated electropherograms with rhEPO and Tf digests confirmed the potential applicability of this simple strategy to predict, in general, the peptide-glycopeptide electrophoretic map of any digested glycoprotein.

Analysis of human transferrin glycopeptides by capillary electrophoresis and capillary liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Application to diagnosis of alcohol dependence.

In this study, capillary electrophoresis and capillary liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (CE-TOF-MS and µLC-TOF-MS) were used to detect and characterise human transferrin (Tf) glycopeptide glycoforms obtained by tryptic digestion. After selecting µLC-TOF-MS because of improved performance in analysis of N413 and N611 glycopeptide glycoforms, the proposed methodology was applied to serum samples. Two immunoaffinity columns were employed to isolate Tf from serum samples. Both columns were activated with the same anti-Tf antibody but using two different bonding chemistries. After immunoaffinity purification and digestion, serum samples from a teetotal individual (as control) and from individuals with low and high alcohol dependence were analysed by µLC-TOF-MS. Relative abundance of each glycoform was useful to estimate the degree of alcohol dependence of each individual. Finally, the established methodology was used to analyse serum samples from specific individuals with an unknown degree of alcohol dependence.