Nonreductive release of O-linked oligosaccharides from mucin glycoproteins for structure/function assignments as neoglycolipids: application in the detection of novel ligands for E-selectin

The neoglycolipid technology comprises several microproceduresinvolving the generation of lipid-linked oligosaccharide probesfor carbohydrate recognition studies in conjunction with oligosaccharidesequence determination by mass spectrometry. Although applicableto any desired oilgosaccharides, procedures are greatly facilitatedif the ohgosaccharides are nonreduced, as conjugation is byreductive amination of a reducing end aldehyde to a phosphatidylethanolamine.Using bovine submaxillary mucin as a model for release of O-glycansin the reducing state, and based on yields of neoglycolipidsand side-products from "peeling" reactions and degradation,aqueous ethylamine 70% w/v at 22°C for 48 h has been selectedin preference to other conditions, triethylainine, sodium hydroxide,and bydrazine. The integrity of the main acidic and neutraloligosaccharides released under these conditions, di- to octasaccharides,was established by analyses of free oligosaccharides by liquidsecondary ion mass spectrometry (LSIMS) and of the derived neoglycolipidsby TLCLSIMS; the repertoire compared favorably with that ofthe oligosaccharide alditols generated by conventional reductivealkaline borohydride treatment. More forcing conditions of ethylamine70% w/v at 65°C for 6 h were required to release oligosaccharidesfrom porcine gastric mucin; di- to nonasaccharides were obtainedof which about one-third had an intact core GalNAc. Relativeto yields after reductive alkaline hydrolysis, the overall yieldsfor these two glycoproteins were 20% and 40–50% for acidicand neutral oligosaccharides, respectively. Among O-glycansreleased from an ovarian cystadenoma glycoprotein using ethylamine,three variants of the sulfated Le^a/x sequences were identifiedas ligands for the endothelial adhesion molecule E-selectin,one of which is based on the unusual backbone Gal-3/4GlcNAc-3Gal-3Gal. mucins O-linked oligosaccharides TLC-LSIMS neoglycolipids E-selectin