Fully automated chip-based mass spectrometry for complex carbohydrate system analysis

Carbohydrates represent a major class of biopolymers, which occur in nature either as oligosaccharides or glycoconjugates, in which the sugar moiety is linked to proteins or lipids. The significance of mass spectrometry for highly sensitive analysis of complex carbohydrates increased after the introduction of the electrospray ionization and matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization methods and the possibility of tandem MS for sequencing of single molecular species in complex mixtures. Rapid and sensitive characterization of carbohydrates in biological systems by automated nanoscale liquid delivery and chip-based electrospray interface techniques have not been developed so far. In this contribution, the implementation and optimization of a fully automated chip-based nanoelectrospray assembly (NanoMate system), operating in the negative ion mode, in combination with QTOF-tandem MS for mapping/sequencing and computer-assisted structure assignment for carbohydrate components in complex mixtures is presented.