Developments and applications of separation and microfluidics methods coupled to electrospray mass spectrometry in glycomics of nervous system gangliosides

Gangliosides are particularly abundant in the nervous system (NS) where their pattern and structure in a certain milieu or a defined region exhibit a pronounced specificity. Since gangliosides are useful biomarkers for diagnosis of NS ailments, a clear-cut mapping of individual components represents a prerequisite for designing ganglioside-based diagnostic procedures, treatments, or vaccines. These bioclinical aspects and the high diversity of ganglioside species claim for development of specific analytical strategies. This review summarizes the state-of-the-art in the implementation of separation techniques and microfluidics coupled to MS, which have contributed significantly to the advancement of the field. In the first part, the review discusses relevant approaches based on HPLC MS and CE coupled to ESI MS and their applications in the characterization of gangliosides expressed in healthy and diseased NS. A considerable section is dedicated to microfluidics MS and ion mobility separation MS, developed for the study of brain gangliosidome and its changes triggered by various factors, as well as for ganglioside biomarker discovery in neurodegenerative diseases and brain cancer. In the last part of the review, the benefits and perspectives in ganglioside research of these high-performance techniques are presented.     

Chip electrospray mass spectrometry for carbohydrate analysis

Currently two types of chip systems are used in conjunction with MS: out-of-plane devices, where hundreds of nozzles, nanospray emitters are integrated onto a single silicon substrate from which electrospray is established perpendicular to the substrate, and planar microchips, embedding a microchannel at the end of which electrospray is generated in-plane, on the edge of the microchip. In the last two years, carbohydrate research greatly benefited from the introduction and implementation of the chip-based MS. In two laboratories the advantages of the chip electrospray in terms of ionization efficiency, sensitivity, reproducibility, quality of data in combination with high mass accuracy, and resolution of detection were systematically explored for several carbohydrate classes: O- and N-glycopeptides, oligosaccharides, gangliosides and glycoprotein-derived O- and N-glycans, and glycopeptides. The current state-of-the-art in interfacing the chip electrospray devices to high-performance MS for carbohydrate analysis, and the particular requirements for method optimization in both positive and negative ion modes are reviewed here. The recent applications of these miniaturized devices and their general potential for glycomic-based surveys are highlighted.     

A Lysoganglioside/Poly-L-glutamic Acid Conjugate as a Picomolar Inhibitor of Influenza Hemagglutinin

Based on the principle of a multivalent interaction, the amphiphilic polymer 1 , present in solution as an aggregate (see below right), is able to inhibit infection with the influenza virus. After recognition of a specific sialyllactose epitope through hemaglutinin (HA) on the virus surface, the sphingosine residues and the fluorescent tag form a stable complex with HA through hydrophobic interactions. Polymer 1 shows in vitro inhibitory activity 10⁶-fold greater than that of sialyllactose. PGA=polyglutamic acid.     

A Novel Method for the Production of Glycosphingolipids

Neolacto‐series ganglioside sialylparagloboside (SPG) is a ganglioside species present in various human tissues, and used in many important studies. In this study, four ganglioside analogs, GM3, GD3, SPG, and NeuAc‐Gal‐GlcNAc‐Gal‐GlcNAc‐Gal‐Glc‐Cer, were synthesized by the saccharide‐primer method using MDCK cells and β‐lactoside primer with different aglycons. As compared to former methods for producing SPG, the primer method was rapid and convenient. Moreover, the yield of SPG was much higher than that obtained by former methods. The production of gangliosides with an azido group in the aglycon moiety was also achieved by using MDCK cells.     

Highly-substituted benzhydrylamine resin: An alternative chromatographic support for ganglioside and neutral glycosphingolipid purification

Summary Benzhydrylamine resin (BHAR) is a copolymer of (styrene-1% divinylbenzene) containing phenylmethylamine groups and commonly used as a solid support for peptide synthesis in organic solvents. We have demonstrated that a larger number of NH₃ ⁺ groups distributed throughout the BHAR matrix improves bead solvation under more polar conditions. As this characteristic might allow this aminated-polymer to be used as a stationary phase for liquid chromatography, a hyghly substituted BHAR (2.4 mmol.g⁻¹ of amine groups) was synthesized under forceful conditions. Neutral glycosphingolipids and negatively charged gangliosides and sulfatide obtained from rat brain extracts were successfully purified and fractionated in this BHAR batch by single-step, reverse-phase anion-exchange chromatography. Additionally, the anion-exchange potential of BHAR was also compared to that of commercial dimethylaminoethyl (DEAE)-Sephadex A25 resin.     

Development of an Electrochemical Biosensor for the Rapid Detection of Cholera Toxin Based on Air Stable Lipid Films with Incorporated Ganglioside GM1 Using Graphene Electrodes

The present work describes a miniaturized potentiometric cholera toxin sensor on graphene nanosheets with incorporated lipid films. Ganglioside GM1, the natural cholera toxin receptor, immobilized on the stabilized lipid films, provided adequate selectivity for detection over a wide range of toxin concentrations, fast response time of ca. 5 min, and detection limit of 1 nM. The proposed sensor is easy to construct and exhibits good reproducibility, reusability, selectivity, long shelf life and high sensitivity of ca. 60 mV/decade of toxin concentration. The method was implemented and validated in lake water samples. This novel ultrathin film technology is currently adapted to the rapid detection of other toxins that could be used in bioterrorism.     

HPTLC‐MALDI MS for (glyco)sphingolipid multiplexing in tissues and blood: A promising strategy for biomarker discovery and clinical applications

Sphingolipids have hydrophilic and hydrophobic properties, different saturation and combination of the oligosaccharide chains and mass homology of species located in a narrow m/z region hampering their recognition. To target sphingolipids for diagnostic purposes, standardized methods for lipid extraction, quali‐ and quantitative assessments are required. In this study, HPTLC‐MALDI MS was adopted to establish sphingolipid and glycosphingolipid profiles in muscle, brain and serum to create a database of molecules to be searched in the preclinical and clinical investigations. Specific protocols for lipid extraction were set up based on the characteristics of the tissue or/and fluids; this approach maximizes the HPTLC‐MALDI MS analytical throughput both for lipids extracted in organic and aqueous phase. This study indicates that alkaline hydrolysis is necessary for the detection of low abundant species such as Gb3Cer and ceramides in serum and Gb4Cer, CerP and HexCer in muscle tissue. The high hydrophobicity of ceramides has been overcome by the development of HPTLC plate in chloroform:methanol/50:3.5, which increases the number and the intensity of low abundant Cer species. MS/MS analysis has been conducted directly on HPTLC plate allowing the molecular recognition; furthermore a dataset of spectra was acquired to create a database for future profiling of these molecules.     

神经节苷脂的红外、紫外光谱分析及其多聚体结构的原子力显微镜观测

神经节苷脂(gangliosides, Gls)是一类含有唾液酸的酸性鞘糖脂,是神经细胞膜的重要组成成分,在生物膜中起着非常重要的生理作用。文章用红外光谱(IR)、紫外光谱(UV)、原子力显微镜(AFM)分别对以牛脑为原料,采用Folch萃取法、硅胶吸附柱层析和DEAE-SephadexA-25离子交换柱层析得到的神经节苷脂的分子官能团和多聚体结构进行了研究。实验结果表明,从100 g湿组织中获得产品为55.2 mg,纯度达62.84%,其紫外光谱吸收在195 nm处。通过红外光谱研究证明在提纯的产品结构中含有唾液酸分子的结构片段。利用原子力显微镜对其在水中的聚集体微观形貌进行了观察研究,发现神经节苷脂在水中呈清晰的纳米级球状或椭球状结构,经测定：神经节苷脂多聚体的大小在55～380 nm之间,平均大小为(148.9±66.7) nm;高度在1.0～5.0 nm之间,平均高度为(3.25±1.01) nm。该实验结果为神经节苷脂的生物活性研究以及作为神经类药物的开发利用提供了理论和实验依据。     

Inhibition effects of gangliosides G(M1), G(D1a) and G(T1b) on base-catalyzed isomerization of prostaglandin A(2)

Micellar inhibition effect of gangliosides on a degradation of drug was investigated, where ganglioside G(M1) (GM1), G(D1a) (GD1a) and G(T1b) (GTlb) whose sialic acid residue is one, two and three, respectively, were used. The base-catalyzed isomerization of prostaglandin A(2) (PGA(2)) to prostaglandin B(2) (PGB(2)) was chosen as a model experiment. The rate for the isomerization of PGA(2) was determined by measuring the concentration of PGA(2) (and PGB(2)) with a high-performance liquid chromatography. Gangliosides micelles inhibited the isomerization of PGA(2). The inhibition effect of GT1b micelles was larger than that of GD1a micelles. This result would be due to the larger absolute value of surface potential of GT1b micelles, which brings about a larger electrostatic repulsion between micellar surface and OH(-). The terminal sialic acid residue of ganglioside was effective to inhibit the isomerization of PGA(2). GM1 micelles without terminal sialic acid residue but with large aggregation number exhibited a superior steric shielding effect rather than an electrostatically repulsive effect. The inhibition effect of GM1 micelles was enhanced by the mixed micellization with the other ganglioside with a terminal sialic acid residue. GM1-GD1a or GM1-GT1b mixed micelles remarkably inhibited the isomerization of PGA(2). The physiological activity of PGs in the biological membranes containing gangliosides was also discussed.