N-glycosylation site mapping of recombinant tissue plasminogen activator by micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography

Sialic acid-containing glycans play a role in the activity of snake venom proteases

Structural variability is a feature of snake venom proteins, and glycosylation is a post-translational modification that contributes to the diversification of venom proteomes. Studies by our group have shown that Bothrops venoms are distinctly defined by their glycoprotein content, and that most hybrid/complex N-glycans identified in these venoms contain sialic acid. Considering that metalloproteases and serine proteases are abundant components of Bothrops venoms and essential in the envenomation process, and that these enzymes contain several glycosylation sites, the role of sialic acid in venom proteolytic activity was evaluated. Here we show that removal of sialic acid by treatment of nine Bothrops venoms with neuraminidase (i) altered the pattern of gelatinolysis in zymography of most venoms and reduced the gelatinolytic activity of all venoms, (ii) decreased the proteolytic activity of some venoms on fibrinogen and the clotting activity of human plasma of all venoms, and (iii) altered the proteolysis profile of plasma proteins by B. jararaca venom, suggesting that sialic acid may play a role in the interaction of proteases with their protein substrates. In contrast, the profile of venom amidolytic activity on Bz-Arg-pNA did not change after removal of sialic acid, indicating that this monosaccharide is not essential in N-glycans of serine proteases acting on small substrates. In summary, these results expand the knowledge about the variability of the subproteomes of Bothrops venom proteases, and for the first time point to the importance of carbohydrate chains containing sialic acid in the enzymatic activities of venom proteases relevant in human envenomation.

A tabulated review of capillary electrophoresis of carbohydrates

This review summarizes publications on capillary electrophoresis (CE) of carbohydrates, covering almost all hitherto published papers on this topic. It is designed to be a convenient tool for the literature search by providing a comprehensive table. Since CE analysis of carbohydrates is generally complicated due to the structural diversity of carbohydrate species, an attempt is made in this table to supply detailed information on the analyzed form (underivatized or derivatized, type of derivative) and analytical conditions (capillary size, state of the inner wall, composition of the electrophoretic solution, applied voltage, detection method, etc.), for each combination of carbohydrate species to be analyzed. In addition, a brief overview is presented to help in the literature search.

Investigation of micelles and anionic cyclodextrins as pseudostationary phases for the capillary electrophoresis separation of oligosaccharides derivatized with 2-amino-benzamide

Oligomers of glucose and oligosaccharides released from glycoproteins were derivatized with 2-aminobenzamide. As this fluorophore imparts no charge to the oligosaccharides, several strategies were investigated to achieve capillary electrophoresis (CE) separation of both neutral and charged derivatized glycans. Micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography (MEKC) with the addition of anionic surfactants was evaluated as a first approach: sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) produced the best separation of the oligoglucose fragments, where the migration was inversely related to their degree of polymerization. To demonstrate the applicability of this method for complex carbohydrate analysis, oligosaccharide mixtures derived from ribonuclease B (RNase B) and alpha-acid glycoprotein (alpha-AGP) were analyzed. A satisfactory separation for the high-mannose structures found in RNase B could be obtained, whereas charged oligosaccharides from alpha-AGP were poorly resolved. Cyclodextrin-modified CE was chosen as the second approach: the effect of the addition of sulfobutylether-beta-cyclodextrin (SBE-beta-CD) or sulfobutylether-gamma-cyclodextrin (SBE-gamma-CD) on the electrophoretic mobilities and resolution of neutral and charged oligosaccharides was then studied. Selectivity of sialylated structures could be further improved by using anionic cyclodextrins (CDs) instead of micelles. However, this latter approach failed to baseline-resolve the different high-mannose structures of RNase B. A successful separation of the complex mixture of oligosaccharides from alphaalpha-AGP was obtained with the addition of 4% of SBE-gamma-CD and triethylamine (TEA) in a phosphate buffer, pH 6.7.

Electrophoretic methods for process monitoring and the quality assessment of recombinant glycoproteins

In many ways electrophoretic techniques appear ideal for quality monitoring of proteins and are thus well suited for the analysis of recombinant glycoproteins. The requirements of high throughput, comparative analysis and resolution of many variants are met by several electrophoretic techniques. A wide variety of such techniques are available to biotechnologists in the rapidly developing area of recombinant glycoproteins. It is the aim of this review to specifically cover recent work which has been applied to the analysis of DNA-derived glycoproteins, both from a process control standpoint and final product validation. All major areas of electrophoresis including sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), isoelectric focusing and techniques utilizing capillary electrophoresis are covered, with emphasis on analysis of glycoforms and oligosaccharide profiles of recombinant glycoproteins. As illustration, actual examples rather than standard glycoproteins are given to indicate the potential and limitations which may be encountered. It is anticipated that this review will prove a useful and practical guide to the latest developments by indicating the relevant merits of different methods.

Capillary electrophoresis of recombinant proteins

Many naturally occurring proteins which are used therapeutically have been cloned and expressed in large quantities in bacterial, yeast or mammalian systems. Purification of these proteins by column chromatography generates high purity products with low levels of host protein contaminants. However, isoforms of the desired protein may be present at variable concentrations. Analysis of these variant forms has been enhanced by the utilisation of capillary electrophoresis (CE), a highly efficient, widely applicable technique which is increasingly used in the field of biotechnology. The role of CE in the analysis of recombinant proteins is reviewed with respect to microcharacterisation, comparison of natural and recombinant proteins, separation of mutant or variant forms and analysis of glycoforms. Examples of these applications are described and illustrated with analysis of recombinant human albumin. The rapid development of CE, further enhancing its versatility, and its use with complementary analytical techniques is also discussed.