Mass spectrometric quantification of neutral and sialylated N-glycans from a recombinant therapeutic glycoprotein produced in the two Chinese hamster ovary cell lines

Anal Biochem. 2009 Mar 15;386(2):228-36. doi: 10.1016/j.ab.2008.12.015. Epub 2008 Dec 24.

Abstract

Quality control and assurance of glycan profiles of a recombinant glycoprotein from lot to lot is a critical issue in the pharmaceutical industry. To develop an easy and simple quantitative and qualitative glycan profile method based on matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS), the modification with Girard's reagent T (GT) was exploited. Because GT-derivatized quantification of oligosaccharides using MALDI-TOF MS is possible only with neutral glycans, sialylated glycans are not subjected to quantitative analysis with MALDI-TOF MS. To solve this problem, mild methyl esterification and subsequent GT derivatization were employed, enabling us to perform rapid qualitative and quantitative analysis of sialylated and neutral N-linked oligosaccharides using MALDI-TOF MS. This modified method was used in the comparative quantification of N-glycans from the recombinant therapeutic glycoprotein expressed in two different Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell lines. The percentages of sialylated N-glycans to total were 22.5 and 5.2% in CHO-I and CHO-II cells, respectively, resulting in a significant difference in the biological activity of the recombinant glycoprotein.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Betaine / analogs & derivatives
  • Betaine / chemistry
  • Betaine / metabolism
  • CHO Cells
  • Cricetinae
  • Cricetulus
  • Esterification
  • Glycoproteins / chemistry*
  • Glycoproteins / genetics
  • Glycoproteins / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Polysaccharides / analysis*
  • Polysaccharides / chemistry
  • Recombinant Proteins / chemistry*
  • Recombinant Proteins / metabolism
  • Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization / methods*

Substances

  • Glycoproteins
  • Polysaccharides
  • Recombinant Proteins
  • Betaine
  • Girard's reagent T