Plasma desorption mass spectrometric analysis of mycobacterial glycolipids.

Mycobacteria are characterized by species- or type-specific glycolipid antigens. These are generally of the following three types: the trehalose-containing, acylated lipooligosaccharides (LOS), the C-mycoside glycopeptidolipids (GPL), and the phenolic glycolipids (PGL). To date, convenient mass spectrometric analysis of the intact form of these complex glycolipids has proved to be difficult. The successful plasma desorption mass spectrometric analysis of intact mycobacterial glycolipids of the LOS, GPL, and PGL types is now reported, allowing location of the acyl residues and providing oligosaccharide sequence and molecular weight information.