title: Ultra performance liquid chromatographic profiling of serum N-glycans for fast and efficient identification of cancer associated alterations in glycosylation.
abstract: Glycosylation is a diverse but critically important post-translational modification that modulates the physical, chemical and biological properties of proteins. Alterations in glycosylation have been noted in a number of diseases including cancer. The discovery of alterations in the glycosylation of serum glycoproteins which may offer potential as biomarkers is attracting considerable research interest. In the current study, the significant improvements in efficiency, selectivity, and analysis speed offered by ultra performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) profiling of fluorescently labeled N-linked oligosaccharides on a recently introduced sub-2 μm hydrophilic interaction (HILIC) based stationary phase are demonstrated to identify cancer associated alterations in the serum N-glycome of patients bearing stomach adenocarcinoma. The contribution of the glycosylation present on four highly abundant serum proteins namely, IgG, haptoglobin, transferrin, and α1-acid glycoprotein was evaluated. Alterations in the glycosylation present on these four proteins isolated from the pathologically staged cancer serum using either affinity purification or two-dimensional electrophoresis were then investigated as possible markers for stomach cancer progression. In agreement with previous reports, an increase in sialylation was observed on haptoglobin, transferrin, and α1-acid glycoprotein in the cancerous state. Increased levels of core fucosylated biantennary glycans and decreased levels of monogalactosylated core fucosylated biantennary glycans were present on IgG with increasing disease progression. The speed and selectivity offered by the sub-2 μm HILIC phase make it ideal for rapid yet highly efficient separation of complex oligosaccharide mixtures such as that present in the serum N-glycome.
authors.affiliation: NIBRT Dublin-Oxford Glycobiology Laboratory, NIBRT-The National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training, UCD Conway Institute of Biomolecular and Biomedical Research, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bones
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mittermayr
authors.forename: Niaobh
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: O'Donoghue
authors.forename: András
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Guttman
authors.forename: Pauline M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Rudd
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D006031:Glycosylation; D006801:Humans; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000097:blood*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism*; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000097:blood*; D011499:Protein Processing, Post-Translational; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms
chemical_list: D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D011134:Polysaccharides