DMTMM-mediated methylamidation for MALDI mass spectrometry analysis of N-glycans with structurally conserved sialic acid residues in biological fluids “via direttissima”

Characterization of serum glycoprotein N-glycans with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) in positive-ion mode needs a derivatization step to stabilize and neutralize the negative charge on sialic acids. The acidic sugars are attached to the end of glycoproteins, glycolipids or gangliosides. Here, we present a method for sialic acid stabilization via modification based on derivatization of carboxylic acid group activated with 4-(4,6-dimethoxy-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl)-4-methylmorpholinium chloride (DMTMM) with methylamine. DMTMM substitutes in many processes N-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-N′-ethylcarbodiimide hydrochloride and N-hydroxysuccinimide (EDC/NHS) as activation reagent due to its better performance and higher stability in water. Glycosylated proteins are used as solid phase support for glycan derivatization and purification from excess of derivatization reagents. We evaluated our glycan analysis method in murine sera and intestinal lavages. The stabilization of sialic acid enables a complete conservation of the glycan structures, in contrast to other methods where sialic acids are partially lost. In BALB/c mouse sera, we detected predominantly mono- and di-sialylated N-glycans with mostly N-Glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc) and only trace amounts of N-Acetyl neuraminic acid (Neu5Ac). BALB/c mouse intestinal lavages glycoproteins contained asialo N-glycans. DMTMM-mediated methylamidation of N-glycans for MALDI mass spectrometry analysis is a fast and cheap method for structurally conserved glycan derivatization.