Separation of Recombinant Human Erythropoietin Glycoforms by Capillary Electrophoresis Using Volatile Electrolytes. Assessment of Mass Spectrometry for the Characterization of Erythropoietin Glycoforms

Rapid quantitative capillary zone electrophoresis method for monitoring the micro-heterogeneity of an intact recombinant glycoprotein

A simple high-resolution capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) method capable of rapidly assessing the micro-heterogeneity of a 24 kDa molecular weight glycoprotein, has been developed. Separation is carried out using a bare silica capillary at a pH of 2.5 in a commercially available electrophoresis buffer system composed of triethanolamine and phosphoric acid. Over 30 peaks were detected within a run time of 15 min using a 27 cm capillary and approximately 60 peaks were detected using a 77 cm capillary. Although most of the peaks arise from differences in the oligosaccharide structures present on the one glycosylation site on this molecule, other forms of micro-heterogeneity due to the presence of the nonglycosylated form of this glycoprotein and various types of chemical degradation, e.g., deamidation, are also responsible for the multitude of peaks observed. Although the exact chemical identity of each peak in the resulting electropherogram of this glycoprotein is not known, useful information can be obtained for assessing comparability, stability, and batch consistency. Factors impacting the resolution, precision, accuracy, and robustness of the assay are also discussed along with inherent advantages and limitations associated with measuring the micro-heterogeneity of intact glycoproteins.

Capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry: recent advances to the analysis of small achiral and chiral solutes

We describe here the state-of-the-art development of on-line capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry (CE-MS) over the last two years. Technological developments included are novel designs of new interfaces and ionization sources, new capillary coatings, buffers, and micelles as well as application of various modes of CE-MS published in the recent literature. The areas of CE-MS application in analysis of small achiral and chiral solutes are covered in sections that highlight the recent advances and possibilities of each mode of CE-MS. Application areas reviewed in this paper include achiral and chiral pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, carbohydrates, and small peptides. The separation of enantiomers using micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC)-MS with molecular micelles and capillary electrochromatography (CEC)-MS using pack tapered columns appears to provide good tolerance to electrospray stability for routine on-line CE-MS. These two modes seem to be very suitable for sensitive detection of chiral pharmaceuticals in biological samples, but their use will probably increase in the near future. Overall, it seems that one mode of CE-MS, in particular capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE)-MS, is now recognized as established technique for analysis of small charged solutes, but other modes, such as MEKC-MS and CEC-MS, are still within a period of development in terms of both MS-compatible pseudostationary phases and columns as well as applications.

Glycoform characterization of intact erythropoietin by capillary electrophoresis-electrospray-time of flight-mass spectrometry

Glycosylated proteins often show a large variation in their glycosylation pattern, complicating their structural characterization. In this paper, we present a method for the accurate mass determination of intact isomeric glycoproteins based on capillary electrophoresis-electrospray-time of flight-mass spectrometry. Human recombinant erythropoietin has been chosen as a showcase. The approach enables the on-line removal of nonglycosylated proteins, salts, and neutral and negatively charged species. More important, different glycosylation forms are separated both on the base of differences in the number of negatively charged sialic acid residues and the size of the glycans. Thus, 44 glycoforms and in total about 135 isoforms of recombinant human erythropoietin, taking also acetylation into account, could be distinguished for the reference material from the European Pharmacopeia. Distinct glycosylation differences for samples from different suppliers are clearly observed. Based on the accurate mass an overall composition of each single isoform is proposed, perfectly in agreement with data on glycan and glycopeptide analysis. This method is an ideal complement to the established techniques for glycopeptide and glycan analysis, not differentiating branching or linkage isoforms, but leading to an overall composition of the glycoprotein. The presented strategy is expected to improve significantly the ability to characterize and quantify isomeric glycoforms for a large variety of glycoproteins.

Capillary electrophoresis and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight-mass spectrometry for analysis of the novel erythropoiesis-stimulating protein (NESP)

NESP (novel erythropoiesis-stimulating protein) is a recently approved hyperglycosylated analogue of human erythropoietin (EPO) with a long-lasting effect. In this work, the capillary electrophoresis (CE) methodology proposed by the European Pharmacopoeia for the separation of EPO glycoforms has been modified for the separation of NESP glycoforms. Optimization of pH of the separation electrolyte has been fundamental in order to achieve baseline resolution of seven peaks corresponding to NESP glycoforms. Intact NESP has also been characterized by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight-mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). An accurate approximation to an average molecular mass of the NESP molecule has been obtained, taking into account the strong influence of laser intensity upon the MALDI-TOF mass spectra found.

Characterisation of intact recombinant human erythropoietins applied in doping by means of planar gel electrophoretic techniques and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation linear time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Our experiments show that it is possible to detect different types of recombinant human erythropoietins (rhEPOs), EPO-alpha, EPO-beta and novel erythropoesis stimulating protein (NESP), based on exact molecular weight (MW) determination by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) applying a high-resolution time-of-flight (TOF) mass analyser in the linear mode. Detection limits for the highly purified, intact glycoproteins were achievable in the low fmol range (25-50 fmol) using a sample preparation method applying a hydrophobic sample support (DropStop) as MALDI target surface. These results are very promising for the development of highly sensitive detection methods for a direct identification of rhEPO after enrichment from human body fluids. During our investigation we were able to differentiate EPO-alpha, EPO-beta and NESP based on distinct molecular substructures at the protein level by specific enzymatic reactions. MW determination of the intact molecules by high resolving one-dimensional sodium dodecyl sulfate /polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (1D SDS-PAGE) and isoform separation by planar isoelectric focusing (IEF) was compared with MALDI-MS data. Migration differences between the rhEPOs were observed from gel electrophoresis, whereby MWs of 38 kDa in the case of EPO-alpha/beta and 49 kDa for NESP could be estimated. In contrast, an exact MW determination by MALDI-MS based on internal calibration revealed average MWs of 29.8 +/- 0.3 kDa for EPO-alpha/beta and 36.8 +/- 0.4 kDa for NESP. IEF separation of the intact rhEPOs revealed the presence of four to eight distinct isoforms in EPO-alpha and EPO-beta, while four isoforms, which appeared in the more acidic area of the gels, were detected by immunostaining in NESP. A direct detection of the different N- or O-glycoform pattern from rhEPOs using MALDI-MS was possible by de-sialylation of the glycan structures and after de-N-glycosylation of the intact molecules. Thereby, the main glycoforms of EPO-alpha, EPO-beta and NESP could be characterised based on their N-glycan composition. A microheterogeneity of the molecules based on the degree of sialylation of the O-glycan was observable directly from the de-N-glycosylated protein.

Capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry for glycoscreening in biomedical research

Application of capillary electrophoresis (CE) in combination with mass spectrometry (MS) and tandem MS to glycoscreening in biomedical projects is highlighted. In the first part recent CE-MS experiments by sheath liquid CE and multiple stage MS are reported. Neutral and negatively charged N-glycan mixtures from ribonuclease B and fetuin, high-mannose type N-glycoforms, oligosaccharides from lipopolysaccharides (LPS) of Haemophilus influenzae, polysaccharides of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus were analyzed. A particular emphasis is devoted to the applicability of novel off- and on-line CE-MS and tandem MS methods for screening of proteoglycan-derived oligosaccharides, glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), such as hyaluronates from Streptococcus agalactiae, chondroitin/dermatan sulfates (CS/DS) from bovine aorta and human skin fibroblast decorin, and heparin/heparan sulfate (HS) from porcine and bovine mucosa. The performance of CE-MS/MS for identification of glycoforms in glycopeptides and glycoproteins is illustrated by experiments performed on complex mixtures from urine of patients suffering from a hereditary N-acetylhexosaminidase deficiency (Schindler's disease) and urine of patients suffering from cancer cachexia. For determination of glycosylation patterns in glycoproteins like enzymes and antibodies by CE/MS, both CE-matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) and CE-electrospray ionization (ESI)-MS were functional. Finally, the potential of CE-ESI-MS strategy in glycolipid analysis is demonstrated for gangliosides from bovine brain for which particular CE buffer conditions are required.