Selective glycopeptide mapping of erythropoietin by on-line high-performance liquid chromatography--electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

J Chromatogr A. 2001 Feb 23;910(1):1-11. doi: 10.1016/s0021-9673(00)01116-x.

Abstract

Selective glycopeptide mapping of recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO) used as a model glycoprotein was successfully carried out by on-line high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS) using a Vydac C18 column eluted in acetonitrile-1 mM ammonium acetate, pH 6.8. rhEPO expressed in a Chinese hamster ovary clone was exhaustively digested into four glycopeptides and nine peptides with endoproteinase Glu-C. Both glycopeptides and peptides were eluted with trifluoroacetic acid as the eluent, whereas only glycopeptides were eluted selectively with ammonium acetate in the following order: N38, N24, 0126, and N83. Furthermore, many glycoforms included in each glycopeptide were found to be separated by differences in the numbers of sialic acid and N-acetyllactosaminyl repeats. Twenty, 16 and 22 different N-linked oligosaccharides were determined at Asn24, 38, and 83, respectively, and two different O-linked oligosaccharides were observed at Ser126. Our method is simple, rapid, and useful for determining the carbohydrate structures at each glycosylation site and for elucidating the site-specific carbohydrate heterogeneity.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / methods*
  • Erythropoietin / chemistry*
  • Glycopeptides / chemistry*
  • Peptide Mapping
  • Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization / methods*

Substances

  • Glycopeptides
  • Erythropoietin