Characterization and Quantification of Highly Sulfated Glycosaminoglycan Isomers by Gated-Trapped Ion Mobility Spectrometry Negative Electron Transfer Dissociation MS/MS

Anal Chem. 2019 Feb 19;91(4):2994-3001. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.8b05283. Epub 2019 Jan 31.

Abstract

Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) play vital roles in many biological processes and are naturally present as complex mixtures of polysaccharides with tremendous structural heterogeneity, including many structural isomers. Mass spectrometric analysis of GAG isomers, in particular highly sulfated heparin (Hep) and heparan sulfate (HS), is challenging because of their structural similarity and facile sulfo losses during analysis. Herein, we show that highly sulfated Hep/HS isomers may be resolved by gated-trapped ion mobility spectrometry (gated-TIMS) with negligible sulfo losses. Subsequent negative electron transfer dissociation (NETD) tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) analysis of TIMS-separated Hep/HS isomers generated extensive glycosidic and cross-ring fragments for confident isomer differentiation and structure elucidation. The high mobility resolution and preservation of labile sulfo modifications afforded by gated-TIMS MS analysis also allowed relative quantification of highly sulfated heparin isomers. These results show that the gated-TIMS-NETD MS/MS approach is useful for both qualitative and quantitative analysis of highly sulfated Hep/HS compounds in a manner not possible with other techniques.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Carbohydrate Conformation
  • Electron Transport
  • Glycosaminoglycans / analysis*
  • Ion Mobility Spectrometry
  • Stereoisomerism
  • Sulfates / analysis*
  • Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Substances

  • Glycosaminoglycans
  • Sulfates