A procedure for the analysis of site‐specific and structure‐specific fucosylation in alpha‐1‐antitrypsin

A MS‐based methodology has been developed for analysis of core‐fucosylated versus antennary‐fucosylated glycosites in glycoproteins. This procedure is applied to the glycoprotein alpha‐1‐antitrypsin (A1AT), which contains both core‐ and antennary‐fucosylated glycosites. The workflow involves digestion of intact glycoproteins into glycopeptides, followed by double digestion with sialidase and galactosidase. The resulting glycopeptides with truncated glycans were separated using an off‐line HILIC (hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography) separation where multiple fractions were collected at various time intervals. The glycopeptides in each fraction were treated with PNGase F and then divided into halves. One half of the sample was applied for peptide identification while the other half was processed for glycan analysis by derivatizing with a meladrazine reagent followed by MS analysis. This procedure provided site‐specific identification of glycosylation sites and the ability to distinguish core fucosylation and antennary fucosylation via a double digestion and a mass profile scan. Both core and antennary fucosylation are shown to be present on various glycosites in A1AT.     

Hydrophilic interaction chromatography for the analysis of biopharmaceutical drugs and therapeutic peptides: A review based on the separation characteristics of the hydrophilic interaction chromatography phases

Applications of hydrophilic interaction chromatography for the analysis of biopharmaceutical drugs, i.e., glycosylated proteins represented by monoclonal antibodies are discussed in the manner of glycoproteomics. They can be analyzed using hydrophilic interaction chromatography in five different stages as (1) their intact forms, (2) their subunits, (3) N‐ and O‐glycopeptides digested by proteases, (4) N‐ and O‐glycans released from the glycoproteins or glycopeptides, and (5) monosaccharides. Hydrophilic interaction chromatography is a more useful tool in the order of (1) to (5). At the stages (4) and (5), quantitation of glycans and saccharides are also reported. Hydrophilic interaction chromatography is employed not only for analytical uses, but also pretreatment items as solid phase extraction, followed by reversed‐phase liquid chromatography separations. Comprehensive search results of these application of hydrophilic interaction chromatography are summarized in tables to show what kind of hydrophilic interaction chromatography columns are suitable for each step of analysis.Relationship of favored and less favored hydrophilic interaction chromatography columns and their separation characteristics such as hydrophilicity, and selectivity for structural difference, is also discussed. Analysis of the therapeutic peptides (not glycosylated) using hydrophilic interaction chromatography is summarized, too.     

Use of ion pairing reagents for sensitive detection and separation of phospholipids in the positive ion mode LC-ESI-MS

Phospholipids make up one of the more important classes of biological molecules. Because of their amphipathic nature and their charge state (e.g., negatively charged or zwitterionic) detection of trace levels of these compounds can be problematic. Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) is used in this study to detect very small amounts of these analytes by using the positive ion mode and pairing them with fifteen different cationic ion pairing reagents. The phospholipids used in this analysis were phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), phosphatidylcholine (PC), phosphatidylglycerol (PG), phosphatidylserine (PS), phosphatidylinositol (PI), phosphatidic acid (PA), 1,2-diheptanoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DHPC), cardiolipin (CA) and sphingosyl phosphoethanolamine (SPE). The analysis of these molecules was carried out in the single ion monitoring (SIM) positive mode. In addition to their detection, a high performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) method was developed in which the phospholipids were separated and detected simultaneously within a very short period of time. Separation of phospholipids was developed in the reverse phase mode and in the hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) mode HPLC. Their differences and impact on the sensitivity of the analytes are compared and discussed further in the paper. With this technique, limits of detection (LODs) were very easily recorded at low ppt (ng L(-1)) levels with many of the cationic ion pairing reagents used in this study.     

Positive mode electrospray ionization mass spectrometry of bisphosphonates using dicationic and tricationic ion-pairing agents

A general method for detecting bisphosphonate drugs by ESI-MS and LC-ESI-MS as positive ions has been developed. Bisphosphonates can have multiple negative charges in solution. Tricationic ion-pairing reagents were paired with bisphosphonates to form a positively charged complex. It was clear that this facile pairing method worked. However, an appreciable presence of −1 bisphosphonate species were observed in positive mode ESI-MS (i.e. as the +2 complex with tricationic reagents). This led to an extended investigation on the use of dicationic pairing agents. The use of dicationic reagents improved the detection sensitivity for all of the bisphosphonates. Tandem mass spectrometry also improved the limits of detection for most of the bisphosphonates using both the tricationic and dicationic pairing reagents. A tricationic reagent also was used as an ion-pairing reagent in chromatography experiments. Thus the addition of a single reagent produced benefits in that it increased chromatographic retention and enhanced the ESI-MS detection of bisphosphonates.     

A rapid sample preparation method for mass spectrometric characterization of N-linked glycans

A rapid method for analysis of glycans of glycoproteins is presented. This method comprised deglycosylation, sample cleanup and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) analysis of glycans. The enzymatic deglycosylation of N-linked glycoproteins was enhanced in terms of speed and reproducibility using an enzyme-friendly surfactant. The released glycans were desalted using a micro-scale solid phase extraction (SPE) device packed with a hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) sorbent. Hydrophilic glycans were well retained by SPE, while salts and surfactants were removed from the sample. The glycans were eluted using 25-50 microL of solvent and analyzed directly without derivatization using MALDI-MS. MALDI quadrupole time-of-flight (Q-Tof) instrumentation was utilized for glycan profiling and structure characterization by tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). The presented method allows sensitive analysis of glycans benefiting from optimized deglycosylation reactions and efficient sample cleanup.     

Enzyme degradation, high performance liquid chromatography and liquid secondary ion mass spectrometry in the analysis of glycoproteins.

Analysis of small amounts of glycoproteins by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and liquid secondary ion mass spectrometry (LSIMS) together with enzyme digestion has been investigated using fetuin as a model. Preliminary data indicates that 71% of the expected peptides were detected by LSIMS analysis of 200 pmol total digest. HPLC profiles of peptides and glycopeptides were obtained from 2 nmol of digest using a reversed phase (C18) column eluted in a solvent system containing TFA, water and acetonitrile. This has provided glycopeptides for subsequent oligosaccharide analysis. Strategies are reviewed for the chromatographic characterization of oligosaccharides following their release from glycopeptides by chemical and enzymatic procedures.     

Zwitterionic-type hydrophilic interaction nano-liquid chromatography of complex and high mannose glycans coupled with electrospray ionisation high resolution time of flight mass spectrometry

In this study we describe a new method for rapid and sensitive analysis of reduced high mannose and complex glycans using zwitterionic-type hydrophilic interaction nano-liquid chromatography (nano ZIC-HILIC, 75 μm I.D.×150 mm) coupled with high resolution nanoelectrospray ionisation time of flight mass spectrometry (nano ESI-TOF-MS). The retention of neutral glycans increases with increasing molecular weight and is higher for high mannose glycans than for complex-type glycans. The selectivity of ZIC-HILIC for sialylated glycans differs from that for the neutral glycans and is believed to involve electrostatic repulsion; therefore, charged glycans are eluted earlier than neutral glycans with comparable molecular weight. Due to the improved sensitivity achieved by employing a ZIC-HILIC nano-column, a range of less common complex glycans has been studied and the high resolution mass spectrometry enabled confirmation of glycan composition for the proposed structures. Good sensitivity for glycans was achieved without prior fluorescent labelling, and the time of the analysis was significantly reduced compared to the separation of glycans on a conventional-size column. The proposed method offers a fast and sensitive approach for glycan profiling applied to analysis of biopharmaceuticals.     

Mass spectrometry-based glycoprofiling of biopharmaceuticals by using an automated data processing tool: SimGlycan®

The therapeutic and immunological properties of biopharmaceuticals are governed by the glycoforms contained in them. Thus, bioinformatics tools capable of performing comprehensive characterization of glycans are significantly important to the biopharma industry. The primary structural elucidation of glycans using mass spectrometry is tricky and tedious in terms of spectral interpretation. In this study, the biosimilars of a therapeutic monoclonal antibody and an Fc-fusion protein with moderate and heavy glycosylation, respectively, were employed as representative biopharmaceuticals for released glycan analysis using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry instead of conventional mass spectrometry-based analysis. SimGlycan® is a software with proven ability to process tandem MS data for released glycans could identify eight additional glycoforms in Fc-fusion protein biosimilar, which were not detected during mass spectrometry analysis of released glycans or glyco-peptide mapping of the same molecule. Thus, liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry analysis of released glycans not only complements conventional liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry-based glycan profiling but can also identify additional glycan structures that may otherwise be omitted during conventional liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry based analysis of mAbs. The mass spectrometry data processing tools, such as PMI Byos™, SimGlycan^®, etc., can display pivotal analytical capabilities in automated liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry-based glycan analysis workflows, especially for high-throughput structural characterization of glycoforms in biopharmaceuticals.     

Use of activated graphitized carbon chips for liquid chromatography/mass spectrometric and tandem mass spectrometric analysis of tryptic glycopeptides

Protein glycosylation has a significant medical importance as changes in glycosylation patterns have been associated with a number of diseases. Therefore, monitoring potential changes in glycan profiles, and the microheterogeneities associated with glycosylation sites, are becoming increasingly important in the search for disease biomarkers. Highly efficient separations and sensitive methods must be developed to effectively monitor changes in the glycoproteome. These methods must not discriminate against hydrophobic or hydrophilic analytes. The use of activated graphitized carbon as a desalting media and a stationary phase for the purification and the separation of glycans, and as a stationary phase for the separation of small glycopeptides, has previously been reported. Here, we describe the use of activated graphitized carbon as a stationary phase for the separation of hydrophilic tryptic glycopeptides, employing a chip‐based liquid chromatographic (LC) system. The capabilities of both activated graphitized carbon and C₁₈ LC chips for the characterization of the glycopeptides appeared to be comparable. Adequate retention time reproducibility was achieved for both packing types in the chip format. However, hydrophilic glycopeptides were preferentially retained on the activated graphitized carbon chip, thus allowing the identification of hydrophilic glycopeptides which were not effectively retained on C₁₈ chips. On the other hand, hydrophobic glycopeptides were better retained on C₁₈ chips. Characterization of the glycosylation sites of glycoproteins possessing both hydrophilic and hydrophobic glycopeptides is comprehensively achieved using both media. This is feasible considering the limited amount of sample required per analysis (<1 pmol). The performance of both media also appeared comparable when analyzing a four‐protein mixture. Similar sequence coverage and MASCOT ion scores were observed for all proteins when using either stationary phase. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Adding a new separation dimension to MS and LC–MS: What is the utility of ion mobility spectrometry?

Ion mobility spectrometry is an analytical technique known for more than 100 years, which entails separating ions in the gas phase based on their size, shape, and charge. While ion mobility spectrometry alone can be useful for some applications (mostly security analysis for detecting certain classes of narcotics and explosives), it becomes even more powerful in combination with mass spectrometry and high‐performance liquid chromatography. Indeed, the limited resolving power of ion mobility spectrometry alone can be tackled when combining this analytical strategy with mass spectrometry or liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry. Over the last few years, the hyphenation of ion mobility spectrometry to mass spectrometry or liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry has attracted more and more interest, with significant progresses in both technical advances and pioneering applications. This review describes the theoretical background, available technologies, and future capabilities of these techniques. It also highlights a wide range of applications, from small molecules (natural products, metabolites, glycans, lipids) to large biomolecules (proteins, protein complexes, biopharmaceuticals, oligonucleotides).     

Rapid glycopeptide enrichment and N-glycosylation site mapping strategies based on amine-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles

Glycoproteins secreted or expressed on the cell surface at specific pathophysiological stages are well-recognized disease biomarkers and therapeutic targets. While mapping of specific glycan structures can be performed at the level of released glycans, site-specific glycosylation and identification of specific protein carriers can only be determined by analysis of glycopeptides. A key enabling step in mass spectrometry (MS)-based glycoproteomics is the ability to selectively or non-selectively enrich for the glycopeptides from a total pool of a digested proteome for MS analysis since the highly heterogeneous glycopeptides are usually present at low abundance and ionize poorly compared with non-glycosylated peptides. Among the most common approaches for non-destructive and non-glycan-selective glycopeptide enrichment are strategies based on various forms of hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC). We present here a variation of this method using amine-derivatized Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles, in concert with in situ peptide N-glycosidase F digestion for direct matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization–mass spectrometry analysis of N-glycosylation sites and the released glycans. Conditions were also optimized for efficient elution of the enriched glycopeptides from the nanoparticles for on-line nanoflow liquid chromatography–MS/MS analysis. Successful applications to single glycoproteins as well as total proteomic mixtures derived from biological fluids established the unrivaled practical versatility of this method, with enrichment efficiency comparable to other HILIC-based methods.     

Synthesis and evaluation of a maltose‐bonded silica gel stationary phase for hydrophilic interaction chromatography and its application in Ginkgo Biloba extract separation in two‐dimensional systems

Maltose covalently bonded to silica was prepared by using carbonyl diimidazole as a cross‐linker and employed as a stationary phase for hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography. The column efficiency and the effect of water content, buffer concentration, and pH value influenced on retention were investigated. The separation or enrichment selectivity was also studied with nucleosides, saccharides, amino acids, peptides, and glycopeptides. The results indicated that the stationary phase processed good separation efficiency and separation selectivity in hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography mode. Moreover, a two‐dimensional hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography× reversed‐phase liquid chromatography method with high orthogonality was developed to analyze the Ginkgo Biloba extract fractions. The development of this two‐dimensional chromatographic system would be an effective tool for the separation of complex samples of different polarities and contents.     

Poly(amidoamine) dendrimer‐coated magnetic nanoparticles for the fast purification and selective enrichment of glycopeptides and glycans

Glycosylated proteins modulate various important functions of organisms. To reveal the functions of glycoproteins, in‐depth characterization studies are necessary. Although mass spectrometry is a very efficient tool for glycoproteomic and glycomic studies, efficient sample preparation methods are required prior to analyses. In the study, poly(amidoamine) dendrimer‐coated magnetic nanoparticles were presented for the specific enrichment and fast purification of glycopeptides and glycans. The enrichment and purification performance of the developed method was evaluated both at the glycopeptide, and the glycan level using several standard glycoprotein digests and released glycan samples. The poly(amidoamine) dendrimer‐coated magnetic nanoparticles not only showed selective affinity (Immunoglobulin G/Bovine Serum Albumin, 1/10 by weight) to glycopeptides and released glycans but also good sensitivity (0.4 ng/µL for Immunoglobulin G) for glycoproteomic and glycomic applications. Thirty‐five glycopeptides of Immunoglobulin G were detected after enrichment with poly(amidoamine) dendrimer‐coated magnetic nanoparticles. In addition, 55 ¹⁸O tagged deamidated glycopeptides belonging to human plasma glycoproteome were confirmed. Finally, fifty 2‐aminobenzoic acid, and 30 procainamide‐labelled human plasma N‐glycans released from human plasma glycoproteins were determined after purifications. The results indicate that the proposed enrichment and purification method using poly(amidoamine) dendrimer‐coated magnetic nanoparticles could be simply adjusted to sample preparation methods.     

Glycosylation analysis of interleukin-23 receptor: elucidation of glycosylation sites and characterization of attached glycan structures

Interleukin-23 (IL-23) is a heterodimeric cytokine, a central factor in chronic/autoimmune inflammation. It signals through a heterodimeric receptor consisting of IL-23r, which is heavily glycosylated. The structural characterization of IL-23r has not been reported. In this work, glycosylation profiles of soluble recombinant human IL-23r (rhIL-23r) were established using mass spectrometry (MS), which included defining glycosylation sites, degree of glycosylation occupancy of each site and structure of attached oligosaccharides. Specifically, precursor ion scan of oxonium ion protonated N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc(+)) (m/z 204) was performed using a triple quadrupole MS instrument to locate the retention time of glycopeptides. Both the glycopeptides and their corresponding deglycosylated forms in each collected HPLC fraction were studied by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) (LTQ-Orbitrap) for glycosylation site profiling. The attached glycan structures were elucidated by collision-induced dissociation (CID) fragmentation of target glycopeptides in combination with accurate mass measurement. Eight glycosylation sites were identified on IL-23r (Asn24, Asn209, Asn239, Asn157, Asn118, Asn250, Asn58 and Asn6). Most of the glycosylation sites were > 95% occupied except Asn250 and Asn6. Those two sites were 88% and 45% occupied by estimation from trypsin digestion and were 55% and 42% occupied from LysC digestion. Multiple glycoforms were observed in IL-23r. Most of them were bi-, tri- or tetra-antennary complex type structures with fucose and sialic acid. High mannose and hybrid type glycans were only observed on Asn157. The structural characterization on IL-23r glycosylation provides useful information for better understanding of the biological function of IL-23r.     

Comprehensive analysis of fatty alcohol ethoxylates by ultra high pressure hydrophilic interaction chromatography coupled with ion mobility spectrometry mass spectrometry using a custom‐designed sub‐2 μm column

Comprehensive analysis of fatty alcohol ethoxylates has been conducted by coupling ultra high pressure hydrophilic interaction chromatography and ion mobility spectrometry mass spectrometry. A custom‐designed sub‐2 μm column was used for the chromatographic separation of fatty alcohol ethoxylates by hydrophilic interaction chromatography. Ion mobility spectrometry provided a post‐ionization resolution during a very short period of 6.4 ms. Distinguishable families of singly, doubly, and triply charged fatty alcohol ethoxylates were clearly observed. By virtue of the combination of hydrophilic interaction chromatography and ion mobility spectrometry, comprehensive resolution based on both hydrophobicity difference and mobility disparity has been achieved for fatty alcohol ethoxylates. The orthogonality of the developed separation and analysis system was evaluated with the correlation coefficient and peak spreading angle of 0.0224 and 88.72°, respectively. The actual peak capacity obtained was individually 40 and 193 times than those when hydrophilic interaction chromatography and ion mobility spectrometry were used alone. The collision cross‐sections of fatty alcohol ethoxylates were calculated by calibrating the traveling wave ion mobility device with polyalanine.     

Mapping site‐specific protein N‐glycosylations through liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry and targeted tandem mass spectrometry

Glycosylation is one of the most common posttranslational modifications (PTMs) of proteins, the characterization of which is commonly achieved through proteomic protocol, involving trypsin digestion followed by liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS). However, it is often not possible to characterize all glycopeptides in a complex sample because of the high complexity of glycoproteomic samples, and the relative lower abundances of glycopeptides in comparison to the unmodified peptides. We present here a targeted MS/MS analysis approach, which utilizes a previously developed computational tool, GlyPID, to guide multiple experiments, thus permitting a complete characterization of all N‐glycosylation sites of glycoproteins present in a complex sample. We have tested our approach using model glycoproteins analyzed by high‐resolution LTQ‐FT MS. The results demonstrate a potential use of our method for a high‐throughput characterization of complex mixtures of glycosylated proteins. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Strategies for the Analysis of Pharmaceutical Cocrystals Using HPLC with Charged Aerosol Detection

Several active pharmaceutical ingredients are currently being developed as pharmaceutical cocrystals as these systems often have superior properties compared to traditional pharmaceutical forms. Pharmaceutical cocrystal formers typically used are polar, small molecule acids or bases which often lack a UV chromophore. Their polar nature results in almost no reversed phase retention and their detection typically cannot be done with UV. Here we discuss approaches for the analysis of pharmaceutical cocrystals using HPLC columns designed for polar retention, ion pairing chromatography (IPC), and hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) using model cocrystal formers. Corona charged aerosol detection (CAD) was used to monitor the cocrystal formers. l-alanine was used as a model basic cocrystal former, and succinic acid and glutaric acid were used as model acidic cocrystal formers. The acidic cocrystal formers were adequately retained on a C18 column. Heptafluorobutyric acid was used as the ion-pairing reagent for l-alanine as it was unretained without the ion-pairing reagent. HILIC, a newer approach for polar compound retention, was also investigated. Using the HILIC mode, all three model cocrystal formers were retained adequately. Of all the approaches studied for the analysis of the cocrystal formers, HILIC appears to be the best choice as the same column can be used for both acidic and basic cocrystal formers. With IPC, the ion-pairing reagent permanently alters the column chemistry and dedicated columns are required for each ion-pairing reagent used. CAD detection provided a linear response in the 80–100% test concentration range for the analytes studied here.     

Facile preparation of hydrophilic glutathione modified magnetic nanomaterials for specific enrichment of glycopeptides

Glutathione modified magnetic nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄@Au-GSH) were synthesized through a simple process and exploited to enrich glycopeptides from complex samples.     

Facile preparation of hydrophilic glutathione modified magnetic nanomaterials for specific enrichment of glycopeptides

Investigations of glycosylated proteins or peptides and their related biological pathways provide new possibilities for illuminating the physiological and pathological mechanisms of glycosylation modification. However, open-ended and in-depth analysis of glycoproteomics is usually subjected to the low-abundance of glycopeptides, heterogeneous glycans, and a variety of interference molecules. In order to alleviate the influence of these obstacles, effective preconcentration of glycopeptides are indispensable. Here, we employed a hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC)-based method to universally capture glycopeptides. Glutathione modified magnetic nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄@Au-GSH) were synthesized through a simple process and exploited to enrich glycopeptides from complex samples. The prepared materials showed excellent ability to trap glycopeptides from standard glycoproteins digests, low detection limit (10 fmol/μL), and good selectivity (HRP:BSA = 1:100). These results indicated that glutathione-based magnetic nanoparticles synthesized in this work had great potential for glycopeptides enrichment.     

Reduced matrix effects for anionic compounds with paired ion electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

It is well-known that matrix effects in high performance liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS) can seriously compromise quantitative analysis and affect method reproducibility. Paired ion electrospray ionization (PIESI) mass spectrometry is an approach for analyzing ultra-low levels of anions in the positive ion mode. This approach uses a structurally optimized ion pairing reagent to post-column associate with the anionic analyte, subsequently forming positively charged complexes. These newly formed complex ions are often more surface-active as compared to either the native anion or the ion pairing reagent. No studies have examined whether or not the PIESI approach mitigates matrix effects. Consequently, a controlled study was done using five analytes in highly controlled and reproducible synthetic groundwater and urine matrices. In addition, two different mass spectrometers (linear ion trap and triple quadrupole) were used. Compared to the negative ion mode, the PIESI-MS approach was less susceptible to matrix effects when performed on two different MS platforms. Using PIESI-MS, less dilution of the sample is needed to eliminate ionization suppression which, in turn, permits lower limits of detection and quantitation.