Structural analysis of oligosaccharides derivatized with 4-aminobenzoic acid 2-(diethylamino)ethyl ester by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry.

Oligosaccharides derivatized with 4-aminobenzoic acid 2-(diethylamino) ethyl ester (ABDEAE) can be analyzed by ESI (Yoshino, K.; et al. Anal. Chem. 1995, 67, 4028-4031) and MALDI (Takao, T.; et al. Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom. 1996, 10, 637-640) mass spectrometry. In this study, oligosaccharides derived from the enzymatic cleavage of the sugar chains of glycoproteins ribonuclease B, erythropoietin, and transferrin were subjected to ABDEAE derivatization, prior to analysis on a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometer (MALDI-TOF MS) for high-resolution mass measurement and a postsource decay (PSD) experiment. In the mass measurement of ABDEAE derivatives, quasi-molecular ion species have been observed in monoisotopic resolution using 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid as the matrix from spots that contain 50-200 fmol of sample; in the PSD analyses from the spots contained 500 fmol-1 pmol of sample, the predominant backbone ion series which covers the entire mass range for all the derivatives, the internal ion series which reflect the branched trimannosyl core structure of N-glycans, and the low m/z fingerprint ion of ABDEAE were consecutively observed, permitting structure elucidation of the oligosaccharides. Given the effectiveness of this derivatization in terms of its high sensitivity and resolution with respect to MALDI-TOF MS, current methodology is clearly applicable to the sensitive detection and accurate structural analysis of N-glycans.