title: Assay for Glycosaminoglycans by Tandem Mass Spectrometry and its Applications.
abstract: Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are distributed in the whole body and play a variety of important physiological roles associated with inflammation, growth, coagulation, fibrinolysis, lipolysis, and cell-matrix biology. Accumulation of undegraded GAGs in lysosomes gives rise to a distinct clinical syndrome, mucopolysaccharidoses. Measurement of each specific GAG in a variety of specimens is urgently required to understand GAG interaction with other molecules, physiological status of patients, and prognosis and pathogenesis of the disease. We established a highly sensitive and accurate tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for measurements of disaccharides derived from four specific GAGs [dermatan sulfate (DS), heparan sulfate (HS), keratan sulfate (KS), and chondroitin sulfate (CS)]. Disaccharides were produced by specific enzyme digestion of each GAG, and quantified by negative ion mode of multiple reaction monitoring. Subclasses of HS and GAGs with identical molecular weights can be separated using a Hypercarbcolumn (2.0 mm×50 mm, 5 μm) with an aectonitrile gradient in ammonium acetate (pH 11.0). We also developed a GAG assay by RapidFire with tandem mass spectrometry (RF-MS/MS). The RF system consists of an integrated solid phase extraction robot that binds and de-salts samples from assay plates and directly injects them into a MS/MS detector, reducing sample processing time to ten seconds. RF-MS/MS consequently yields much faster throughput than conventional LC-MS/MS-based methods. However, the RF system does not have a chromatographic step, and therefore, cannot distinguish GAGs that have identical molecular weights. Both methods can be applied to analysis of dried blood spots, blood, and urine specimens. In this article, we compare the assay methods for GAGs and describe their potential applications.
authors: Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, Wilmington, DE, USA.
authors: Shunji
authors: S
authors: Tomatsu
authors: Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, Wilmington, DE, USA.
authors: Tsutomu
authors: T
authors: Shimada
authors: Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, Wilmington, DE, USA.
authors: Robert W
authors: RW
authors: Mason
authors: Agilent Technologies, Inc., Wakefield, MA, USA.
authors: Joan
authors: J
authors: Kelly
authors: Agilent Technologies, Inc., Wakefield, MA, USA.
authors: William A
authors: WA
authors: LaMarr
authors: Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, Wilmington, DE, USA.
authors: Eriko
authors: E
authors: Yasuda
authors: Central Research Lab., R&D Div. Seikagaku Co. Tokyo, Japan.
authors: Yuniko
authors: Y
authors: Shibata
authors: Central Research Lab., R&D Div. Seikagaku Co. Tokyo, Japan.
authors: Hideyuki
authors: H
authors: Futatsumori
authors: Department of Pediatrics, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
authors: Adriana M
authors: AM
authors: Montaño
authors: Department of Pediatrics, Shimane University, Izumo, Japan.
authors: Seiji
authors: S
authors: Yamaguchi
authors: Medical Education Development Center, Gifu University, Japan.
authors: Yasuyuki
authors: Y
authors: Suzuki
authors: Department of Pediatrics, Gifu University, Gifu, Japan.
authors: Tadao
authors: T
authors: Orii
keywords: Chromatogram; Glycosaminoglycans; Mucopolysaccharidoses; Newborn screening; Tandem mass spectrometry