Lukas WittUniversity of Münster Institute for Hygiene Biomedical Mass Spectrometry 48149-Münster, Germany |
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| Email: | lukas.witt@uni-muenster.de | |
| Web: | http://www.campus.uni-muenster.de/hyg_forsch_dreisewerd.html | |
Quantification and characterization of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) by use of mass spectrometric techniques
Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are ubiquitous constituents of connecting tissue and cartilage. They are involved in many important biological processes such as blood anticoagulation, viral and bacterial infection, cancer and cell development. Their molecular structure is consisting of linear chains of repeating disaccharide units containing carboxylic and sulfate functional groups. Owing to the lability of the sulfate groups mass spectrometric analyis of GAGs remains an elusive goal.
Based on the separation by HPLC and HPTLC new methods for quantification and characterization of these compounds are being developed during the course of this PhD project. Thereby, experiments will be focusing on the use of mass spectrometry, especially the application of soft ionization methods such as nanoESI and IR-MALDI.
Current advances
Innovative strategies for structural characterization and quantitation of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) have ben developed. A promising on-line procedure has been developed, which matches nano-HPLC separation using the novel zwitterionic ZIC-HILIC material as stationary phase with electrospray ionization (ESI) quadrupole-time of flight (Q-Tof) MS. Substantially improved separation and precise structural discrimination was shown for the analysis of differently sulfated GAGs in complex mixtures. Furthermore, the introduction of water ice employed as a matrix under IR-MALDI conditions resulted in matrix-free spectra of labile sulfated GAGs allowing for a detailed analyte profiling by means of tandem MS and giving rise to refined structural details of GAGs. These novel and powerful analytical tools will be applied to the upcoming investigations to be performed in collaboration with Götte, Grobe, Seidler.
Last update 29.04.2013
