Breaking the Sugar Code with Advances in IC-MS: For Improved Separation and Analysis of Carbohydrates

Glycans play a critical role in all biology, existing either as free sugars or attached to macromolecules pre- or post-translationally. Glycans can dramatically alter the function of macromolecules, and therefore, understanding a molecular system necessitates the identification and characterization of all the sugars in the system’s glycome. Few tools are currently available to analyze the glycome without derivatization, and fewer still are available for the unbiased characterization of the total glycome without dividing it into targeted subsets. In this talk, we described the implementation of a novel column, the Thermo Scientific™ CarboPac™ PA300-4µm column, in an HPAE-PAD-MS platform for the detection and structural characterization of oligosaccharides from biological and food samples. The detailed instrument setup coupled with the CarboPac PA300-4µm affords an unbiased window into the total glycome, allowing for the characterization of both neutral and charged species alike.