Priming mass spectrometry-based sulfoglycomic mapping for identification of terminal sulfated lacdiNAc glycotope

Glycoconj J. 2013 Feb;30(2):183-94. doi: 10.1007/s10719-012-9396-z. Epub 2012 Jun 1.

Abstract

In an effort to prime our mass spectrometry (MS)-based sulfoglycomic mapping platform technology for facile identification of sulfated lacdiNAc (GalNAcβ1-4GlcNAcβ1-), we have re-examined the N-glycans of bovine thyroid stimulating hormone. We showed that MALDI-MS mapping of permethylated glycans in negative ion mode can give an accurate representation of the sulfated glycans and, through MS/MS, diagnostic ions can be derived that we can collectively define the presence of a terminal sulfated lacdiNAc moiety at high sensitivity. Based on these ions, which can also be produced by nanoESI-MS(n), we demonstrated that the glycome of an ovarian carcinoma cell line, RMG-1, comprises a high abundance of sulfated lacdiNAc epitopes carried on multiantennary complex type N-glycans alongside fucosylated, sialylated and/or sulfated lacNAc antennae. This represents the first report of a natural glycomic occurrence of sulfated lacdiNAc on a cell line, as opposed to other better-characterized presence on secreted glycoproteins from a handful of sources. It is anticipated that with improved methods of detection such as that developed in this work, we are likely to identify a wider occurrence of sulfated lacdiNAc and be able to more accurately delineate the regulatory mechanism dictating the choice of a cell type in synthesizing sulfated, sialylated, fucosylated and/or non-substituted lacdiNAc.

Publication types

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

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cattle
  • Lactose / analogs & derivatives*
  • Lactose / chemistry
  • Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization*
  • Thyrotropin / chemistry

Substances

  • N-acetylgalactosaminyl-1-4-N-acetylglucosamine
  • Thyrotropin
  • Lactose