Carbohydrate Structure Analysis: Methods and Applications

Abstract

The fact that practically all living cells are covered with carbohydrates gives an indication that these unique molecules are of tremendous importance to life with impacts in health and disease. One example of the significance of carbohydrates is found in the blood types that are determined by minor differences in the structure of the glycans on the surface of red blood cells. Other examples include glycosylation changes in cancer, the masking of viruses by glycans to evade the host immune response, and the inflammation resulting from exposure to endotoxins in gram-negative bacteria, among many others. As science delves deeper into understanding biological processes, it is increasingly confronted with the challenge to account for the roles that carbohydrates play in the molecular interactions that drive these processes. Molecular interactions are based on molecular shape, and molecular shape is determined by primary structure. Thus, it is vital to enlarge our repertoire of analytical tools for the elucidation of the primary structure of carbohydrates. Although a number of traditional analytical tools, including monosaccharide and linkage analysis by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), glycan composition analysis by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS), sequence analysis by tandem mass spectrometry (MSn), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, have been available for some time and have been used with tremendous success, a host of challenges posed by the specific structural peculiarities of carbohydrates remain to be met. These include the varying stability of glycosidic bonds and free monosaccharides to hydrolysis, the nonstoichiometric substitution by noncarbohydrate residues, the difficulty of automating the existing protocols for high-throughput analysis, the scarcity of standards, the unparalleled structural diversity and close similarity of different structures, and the lack of chromophores that can often not be directly overcome with labeling. The articles in this special issue are a sampling of ingenious ways in which scientists have dealt with these challenges. The special issue is divided into three conceptually distinct parts, monosaccharide analysis, glycomics, and glycan-protein interactions.

Research of saccharides and related biocomplexes: A review with recent techniques and applications

“…Case‐selective method validation is needed for the identification and characterization of their functionalities and exact structures. Saccharides aids monitoring of diseases [6, 7]. They are also used as references to verify environmental problems [8, 9] and help to trace the originality and quality of food when chromatographic, capillary electrophoresis (CE), and mass spectrometry (MS) methods are used [10–12].…”

“…They form complexes with proteins and lipids. Ribose and deoxyribose in DNA and RNA, and O‐ and N‐glycan complexes have importance in processes of the human body [6, 7, 9, 13]. Moreover, they are used as biomarkers in disease diagnostics [14–18].…”

“…Moreover, they are used as biomarkers in disease diagnostics [14–18]. Protein‐linked saccharides are analyzed with glycopeptide mapping or measuring the glycosylation stage [3, 7, 9, 12, 14, 15, 19]. Changes in glycosylation have significance in therapeutics [5–7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 18, 20, 22].…”

“…Protein‐linked saccharides are analyzed with glycopeptide mapping or measuring the glycosylation stage [3, 7, 9, 12, 14, 15, 19]. Changes in glycosylation have significance in therapeutics [5–7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 18, 20, 22]. Lipid‐linked saccharides can be synthetized by yeast and microbes.…”

Head-to-Head Comparison of High-Performance Liquid Chromatography versus Nuclear Magnetic Resonance for the Quantitative Analysis of Carbohydrates in Yiqi Fumai Lyophilized Injection

“…The analyses of sugars are the most widespread chemical analyses performed in foods, beverages, forages, pharmaceuticals and other industries [ 3 ]. Meanwhile, carbohydrate analysis is standard practice in these industries and is often used for quality assurance [ 4 ].…”