Facile synthesis of boronic acid-functionalized magnetic carbon nanotubes for highly specific enrichment of glycopeptides

Dual-ligand hydrogen-bonded organic framework: Tailored for mono-phosphopeptides and glycopeptides analysis

Hydrogen-bonded organic frameworks (HOFs) have emerged as a promising class of materials for applications of separation and enrichment. Utilizing multiple-ligands to construct HOFs is a promising avenue towards the development of structurally stable and functionally diverse frameworks, offering opportunities to create customized binding sites for selective recognition of biomolecules. In recent years, due to the crucial role that protein post-translational modifications (PTMs) play in maintaining protein function and regulating signaling pathways, and the growing recognition of the extensive cross-talk that can occur between PTMs, simultaneous analysis of different types of PTMs represents a requirement of a new generation of enrichment materials. Here, for the first attempt, we report a dual-ligand HOF constructed from borate anion and guanidinium cation for the simultaneous identification of glycopeptides and phosphopeptides, especially mono-phosphopeptides. According to theoretical calculations, the HOF functional sites display a synergistic "matching" effect with mono-phosphopeptides, resulting in a stronger enrichment effect for mono-phosphopeptides as compared to multi-phosphopeptides. Also, due to its high hydrophilicity and boronate affinity, this material can efficiently capture glycoproteins. HOF is set to become an active research direction in the development of highly efficient simultaneous protein enrichment materials, and offers a new approach for comprehensive PTMs analysis.

Emerging nanosensor platforms and machine learning strategies toward rapid, point-of-need small-molecule metabolite detection and monitoring

Speedy, point-of-need detection and monitoring of small-molecule metabolites are vital across diverse applications ranging from biomedicine to agri-food and environmental surveillance. Nanomaterial-based sensor (nanosensor) platforms are rapidly emerging as excellent candidates for versatile and ultrasensitive detection owing to their highly configurable optical, electrical and electrochemical properties, fast readout, as well as portability and ease of use. To translate nanosensor technologies for real-world applications, key challenges to overcome include ultralow analyte concentration down to ppb or nM levels, complex sample matrices with numerous interfering species, difficulty in differentiating isomers and structural analogues, as well as complex, multidimensional datasets of high sample variability. In this Perspective, we focus on contemporary and emerging strategies to address the aforementioned challenges and enhance nanosensor detection performance in terms of sensitivity, selectivity and multiplexing capability. We outline 3 main concepts: (1) customization of designer nanosensor platform configurations via chemical- and physical-based modification strategies, (2) development of hybrid techniques including multimodal and hyphenated techniques, and (3) synergistic use of machine learning such as clustering, classification and regression algorithms for data exploration and predictions. These concepts can be further integrated as multifaceted strategies to further boost nanosensor performances. Finally, we present a critical outlook that explores future opportunities toward the design of next-generation nanosensor platforms for rapid, point-of-need detection of various small-molecule metabolites.

Recent advancements in glycoproteomic studies: Glycopeptide enrichment and derivatization, characterization of glycosylation in SARS CoV2, and interacting glycoproteins

Proteomics studies allow for the determination of the identity, amount, and interactions of proteins under specific conditions that allow the biological state of an organism to ultimately change. These conditions can be either beneficial or detrimental. Diseases are due to detrimental changes caused by either protein overexpression or underexpression caused by as a result of a mutation or posttranslational modifications (PTM), among other factors. Identification of disease biomarkers through proteomics can be potentially used as clinical information for diagnostics. Common biomarkers to look for include PTM. For example, aberrant glycosylation of proteins is a common marker and will be a focus of interest in this review. A common way to analyze glycoproteins is by glycoproteomics involving mass spectrometry. Due to factors such as micro- and macroheterogeneity which result in a lower abundance of each version of a glycoprotein, it is difficult to obtain meaningful results unless rigorous sample preparation procedures are in place. Microheterogeneity represents the diversity of glycans at a single site, whereas macroheterogeneity depicts glycosylation levels at each site of a protein. Enrichment and derivatization of glycopeptides help to overcome these limitations. Over the time range of 2016 to 2020, several methods have been proposed in the literature and have contributed to drastically improve the outcome of glycosylation analysis, as presented in the sampling surveyed in this review. As a current topic in 2020, glycoproteins carried by pathogens can also cause disease and this is seen with SARS CoV2, causing the COVID-19 pandemic. This review will discuss glycoproteomic studies of the spike glycoprotein and interacting proteins such as the ACE2 receptor.

Glycomic and Glycoproteomic Techniques in Neurodegenerative Disorders and Neurotrauma: Towards Personalized Markers

The proteome represents all the proteins expressed by a genome, a cell, a tissue, or an organism at any given time under defined physiological or pathological circumstances. Proteomic analysis has provided unparalleled opportunities for the discovery of expression patterns of proteins in a biological system, yielding precise and inclusive data about the system. Advances in the proteomics field opened the door to wider knowledge of the mechanisms underlying various post-translational modifications (PTMs) of proteins, including glycosylation. As of yet, the role of most of these PTMs remains unidentified. In this state-of-the-art review, we present a synopsis of glycosylation processes and the pathophysiological conditions that might ensue secondary to glycosylation shortcomings. The dynamics of protein glycosylation, a crucial mechanism that allows gene and pathway regulation, is described. We also explain how-at a biomolecular level-mutations in glycosylation-related genes may lead to neuropsychiatric manifestations and neurodegenerative disorders. We then analyze the shortcomings of glycoproteomic studies, putting into perspective their downfalls and the different advanced enrichment techniques that emanated to overcome some of these challenges. Furthermore, we summarize studies tackling the association between glycosylation and neuropsychiatric disorders and explore glycoproteomic changes in neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington disease, multiple sclerosis, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. We finally conclude with the role of glycomics in the area of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and provide perspectives on the clinical application of glycoproteomics as potential diagnostic tools and their application in personalized medicine.

Multiplex Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Identification and Quantification of Urine Metabolites in Patient Samples within 30 min

Successful translation of laboratory-based surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) platforms to clinical applications requires multiplex and ultratrace detection of small biomarker molecules from a complex biofluid. However, these biomarker molecules generally exhibit low Raman scattering cross sections and do not possess specific affinity to plasmonic nanoparticle surfaces, significantly increasing the challenge of detecting them at low concentrations. Herein, we demonstrate a "confine-and-capture" approach for multiplex detection of two families of urine metabolites correlated with miscarriage risks, 5β-pregnane-3α,20α-diol-3α-glucuronide and tetrahydrocortisone. To enhance SERS signals by 10¹²-fold, we use specific nanoscale surface chemistry for targeted metabolite capture from a complex urine matrix prior to confining them on a superhydrophobic SERS platform. We then apply chemometrics, including principal component analysis and partial least-squares regression, to convert molecular fingerprint information into quantifiable readouts. The whole screening procedure requires only 30 min, including urine pretreatment, sample drying on the SERS platform, SERS measurements, and chemometric analyses. These readouts correlate well with the pregnancy outcomes in a case-control study of 40 patients presenting threatened miscarriage symptoms.

Boronic acid-functionalized mesoporous magnetic particles with a hydrophilic surface for the multimodal enrichment of glycopeptides for glycoproteomics

Boronic acid-functionalized mesoporous magnetic particles with a hydrophilic surface for multimodal enrichment of glycopeptides for glycoproteomics.

Facile synthesis of magnetic carbon nanotubes derived from ZIF-67 and application to magnetic solid-phase extraction of profens from human serum

Magnetic carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with encapsulated Co nanoparticles (Co@CNTs), was synthesized by exploiting the one-step pyrolysis strategy using ZIF-67 as template. The as-synthesized Co@CNTs is provided with the nanopores, a large specific surface area, and strong magnetic response. The obtained Co@CNTs was used as magnetic solid-phase extraction adsorbents to extract two profens including flurbiprofen and ketoprofen. The parameters of extraction efficiency, involving extraction time, sample solution volume, ionic strength, pH and the conditions of desorption efficiency, were optimized in detail. After determined by high-performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet (HPLC-UV), the results evinced that Co@CNTs showed a high extraction efficiency with high enrichment factors of 832 and 672. The good linear range of both flurbiprofen and ketoprofen were all 5.0-1000 ng L^-1, with the limit of detection were 0.60 ng L^-1 and 0.70 ng L^-1, respectively. Furthermore, a valid method for the extraction of flurbiprofen and ketoprofen from human serum was established. The spiking recoveries of two profens were between 86.74% and 97.22%, and the relative standard deviation was less than 6.55%. Co@CNTs can be repeatedly used at least 10 times, indicating its excellent regeneration and reusability. The results demonstrated that the Co@CNTs materials exhibits high enrichment ability and extraction efficiency, playing great promise in MSPE.

Amorphous CoFe Double Hydroxides Decorated with N-Doped CNTs for Efficient Electrochemical Oxygen Evolution

The development and design of a highly active and affordable nanostructured material as an efficient electrocatalyst for electrochemical oxygen evolution is a pressing necessity to realize industrial production of hydrogen by water electrolysis. Amorphous nanocomposites have recently attracted interest owing to their superior electrocatalytic activity derived from their unique structure. Herein, amorphous CoFe double hydroxides (Am-CFDH) decorated with N-doped carbon nanotubes (NCNTs) is synthesized by a facile and simple one-pot approach under room temperature. Through electrochemical measurement, the bare Am-CFDH nanocomposite already exhibits a comparable oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity to the commercial IrO₂ catalyst on account of its amorphous nature and the interaction between Co and Fe. The introduced NCNTs can provide better electrical conductivity, more anchoring sites, and functional groups for enhancing the transfer of electrons and reactants, preventing the agglomeration of Am-CFDH to expose more active sites, and improving the synergistic effect between Am-CFDH and NCNTs. Thus, the Am-CFDH/NCNTs hybrid displays favorable durability beyond 20 h and advanced OER activity, owning a small overpotential of 270 mV at 10 mA cm^-2 and a low Tafel slope of 56.88 mV dec^-1 in alkaline medium.

A Temperature-Responsive Boronate Core Cross-Linked Star (CCS) Polymer for Fast and Highly Efficient Enrichment of Glycoproteins

Fast and highly efficient enrichment and separation of glycoproteins is essential in many biological applications, but the lack of materials with high capture capacity, fast, and efficient enrichment/separation makes it a challenge. Here, a temperature-responsive core cross-linked star (CCS) polymer with boronate affinity is reported for fast and efficient enriching and separating of glycoproteins from biological samples. The temperature-responsive CCS polymers containing boronic acid in its polymeric arms and poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) in its cross-linked core are prepared using reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer polymerization via an "arm-first" methodology. The soluble boronate polymeric arms of the CCS polymers provide a homogeneous reaction system and facilitate interactions between boronic acid and glycoproteins, which leads to a fast binding/desorption speed and high capture capacity. Maximum binding capacity of the prepared CCS polymer for horseradish peroxidase is determined to be 210 mg g^-1 , which can be achieved within 20 min. More interestingly, the temperature-responsive CCS polymers exhibit rapid reversible thermal-induced volume phase transition by increasing the temperature from 15 to 30 °C, resulting in a facile and convenient sample collection and recovery for the target glycoproteins. Finally, the temperature-responsive CCS polymer is successfully applied to enrichment of low abundant glycoproteins.

Preparation of a thickness-controlled Mg-MOFs-based magnetic graphene composite as a novel hydrophilic matrix for the effective identification of the glycopeptide in the human urine

The highly effective analysis of glycopeptides from complex biological samples is an attractive and critical topic all the time. In this study, a novel thickness-controlled hydrophilic Mg-metal organic frameworks (Mg-MOFs) coating-functionalized magnetic graphene composite (MagG@Mg-MOFs-1C) was prepared for the capture of the glycopeptides. The as-synthesized composite exhibits an ultralow limit of detection (0.1 fmol μL-1), a perfect size-exclusion effect (HRP digests/BSA protein/HRP protein, 1 : 500 : 500, w/w/w), and a high binding capacity (150 mg g-1), satisfying reusability and high recovery in the recognition of glycopeptides due to its outstanding characteristics including strong magnetic property, large surface area (617 m2 g-1), plenty of affinity sites, and excellent hydrophilicity. Furthermore, the MagG@Mg-MOFs-1C composite was successfully applied to selectively enriched glycopeptides in human urine. More excitingly, 406 N-glycosylation peptides corresponding to 185 glycoproteins were identified in the urine of the bladder cancer patients, in which these identified glycoproteins include the potential biomarkers (α-2-macroglobulin, complement C4-B, and α-1-antitrypsin) for the bladder cancer. This study suggests that the hydrophilic porous MOFs-functionalized composite has a great potential in the large-scale characterization of the low-abundance biomolecules in urine, opening a new avenue for the rapid and convenient diagnosis of the disease.

Facile Fabrication of Biomimetic Chitosan Membrane with Honeycomb-Like Structure for Enrichment of Glycosylated Peptides

In the study of glycoproteomics with mass spectrometry, certain pretreatments of samples are required for eliminating the interference of nonglycopeptides and improving the efficiency of glycopeptides detection. Although hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) has been developed for enrichment of glycosylated peptides, a plethora of hydrophilic materials always suffered from large steric hindrance, great cost, and difficulty with modifications of high-density hydrophilic groups. In this work, a 1 mm thick biomimetic honeycomb chitosan membrane (BHCM) with honeycomb-like accessible macropores was directly prepared by the freeze-casting method as an adsorbent for HILIC. The N-glycopeptides from trypsin digests of immunoglobulin G (IgG), mixture of IgG and bovine serum albumin (BSA), and serum proteins were enriched using this material and compared with a commercial material ZIC-HILIC. The biomimetic membrane could identify as many as 32 N-glycopeptides from the IgG digest, exhibiting high sensitivity (about 50 fmol) and a wide scope for glycopeptide enrichment. A molar ratio of IgG trypsin digest to bovine serum albumin trypsin digest as low as 1/500 verified the outstanding specificity and efficiency for glycopeptide enrichment. In addition, 270 unique N-glycosylation sites of 400 unique glycopeptides from 146 glycosylated proteins were identified from the triplicate analysis of 2 μL human serum. Furthermore, 48 unique O-glycosylation sites of 278 unique O-glycopeptides were identified from the triplicate analysis of 30 μg deglycosylated fetuin digest. These results indicated that the chitosan-based membrane prepared in this work had great potential for pretreatment of samples in glycoproteomics.

Advances in mass spectrometry-based glycoproteomics

Protein glycosylation, an important PTM, plays an essential role in a wide range of biological processes such as immune response, intercellular signaling, inflammation, and host-pathogen interaction. Aberrant glycosylation has been correlated with various diseases. However, studying protein glycosylation remains challenging because of low abundance, microheterogeneities of glycosylation sites, and poor ionization efficiency of glycopeptides. Therefore, the development of sensitive and accurate approaches to characterize protein glycosylation is crucial. The identification and characterization of protein glycosylation by MS is referred to as the field of glycoproteomics. Methods such as enrichment, metabolic labeling, and derivatization of glycopeptides in conjunction with different MS techniques and bioinformatics tools, have been developed to achieve an unequivocal quantitative and qualitative characterization of glycoproteins. This review summarizes the recent developments in the field of glycoproteomics over the past 6 years (2012 to 2018).

Mass Spectrometry Approaches to Glycomic and Glycoproteomic Analyses

Glycomic and glycoproteomic analyses involve the characterization of oligosaccharides (glycans) conjugated to proteins. Glycans are produced through a complicated nontemplate driven process involving the competition of enzymes that extend the nascent chain. The large diversity of structures, the variations in polarity of the individual saccharide residues, and the poor ionization efficiencies of glycans all conspire to make the analysis arguably much more difficult than any other biopolymer. Furthermore, the large number of glycoforms associated with a specific protein site makes it more difficult to characterize than any post-translational modification. Nonetheless, there have been significant progress, and advanced separation and mass spectrometry methods have been at its center and the main reason for the progress. While glycomic and glycoproteomic analyses are still typically available only through highly specialized laboratories, new software and workflow is making it more accessible. This review focuses on the role of mass spectrometry and separation methods in advancing glycomic and glycoproteomic analyses. It describes the current state of the field and progress toward making it more available to the larger scientific community.

Bifunctional magnetic nanoparticles for efficient cholesterol detection and elimination via host-guest chemistry in real samples

Cholesterol is an essential compound for maintaining cellular homeostasis and human healthy. Sensitive detection of cholesterol and efficient elimination of excess cholesterol have become the essential manipulations in clinical diagnosis and health management. To date, it is still quite challenging that cholesterol detection and elimination tasks are carried out simultaneously. In this study, bifunctional magnetic nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄@PDA-PBA-CD) are designed and fabricated to overcome this difficulty. Taking advantages of competitive host-guest interaction and magnetic separation, highly efficient, reusable and simultaneous cholesterol detection and elimination can be achieved. The limit of detection is determined to be 4.3 nM, which is comparable or even lower than existing methods. The distinguished performance may attribute to the high loading efficiency and magnetic enrichment of nanoparticles. Besides, this efficient strategy is resistant to interfering substances, thus realizing sensitive cholesterol detection in real sample. Simultaneously, the bifunctional magnetic nanoparticles also have up to 95% cholesterol elimination efficiency, which is higher than previous reported methods. Furthermore, the nanoparticles are turned out to be reusable within 5 times without noticeable loss in cholesterol elimination efficiency. Therefore, the bifunctional magnetic nanoparticles fabricated here could hold great potential for simultaneous cholesterol detection and elimination in practical applications.

Analysis of carbohydrates and glycoconjugates by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry: An update for 2013-2014

This review is the eighth update of the original article published in 1999 on the application of Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI) mass spectrometry to the analysis of carbohydrates and glycoconjugates and brings coverage of the literature to the end of 2014. Topics covered in the first part of the review include general aspects such as theory of the MALDI process, matrices, derivatization, MALDI imaging, fragmentation, and arrays. The second part of the review is devoted to applications to various structural types such as oligo- and poly- saccharides, glycoproteins, glycolipids, glycosides, and biopharmaceuticals. Much of this material is presented in tabular form. The third part of the review covers medical and industrial applications of the technique, studies of enzyme reactions, and applications to chemical synthesis. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Mass Spec Rev 37:353-491, 2018.

Maltose-Functionalized Hydrophilic Magnetic Nanoparticles with Polymer Brushes for Highly Selective Enrichment of N-Linked Glycopeptides

Efficient enrichment glycoproteins/glycopeptides from complex biological solutions are very important in the biomedical sciences, in particular biomarker research. In this work, the high hydrophilic polyethylenimine conjugated polymaltose polymer brushes functionalized magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) denoted as Fe3O4-PEI-pMaltose were designed and synthesized via a simple two-step modification. The obtained superhydrophilic Fe3O4-PEI-pMaltose NPs displayed outstanding advantages in the enrichment of N-linked glycopeptides, including high selectivity (1:100, mass ratios of HRP and bovine serum albumin (BSA) digest), low detection limit (10 fmol), large binding capacity (200 mg/g), and high enrichment recovery (above 85%). The above-mentioned excellent performance of novel Fe3O4-PEI-pMaltose NPs was attributed to graft of maltose polymer brushes and efficient assembly strategy. Moreover, Fe3O4-PEI-pMaltose NPs were further utilized to selectively enrich glycopeptides from human renal mesangial cell (HRMC, 200 μg) tryptic digest, and 449 N-linked glycopeptides, representing 323 different glycoproteins and 476 glycosylation sites, were identified. It was expected that the as-synthesized Fe3O4-PEI-pMaltose NPs, possessing excellent performance (high binding capacity, good selectivity, low detection limit, high enrichment recovery, and easy magnetic separation) coupled to a facile preparation procedure, have a huge potential in N-glycosylation proteome analysis of complex biological samples.

A designable aminophenylboronic acid functionalized magnetic Fe3O4/ZIF-8/APBA for specific recognition of glycoproteins and glycopeptides

We fabricated a novel aminophenylboronic acid functionalized magnetic Fe3O4/zeolitic imidazolate framework-8/APBA (denoted as Fe3O4/ZIF-8/APBA). First, Fe3O4 was coated by zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (denoted as Fe3O4/ZIF-8) using the hydrothermal method. Next, the phenylboronic acid functionalized triethoxysilane reagent was synthesized by 3-aminophenylboronic acid and 3-isocyanatopropyltriethoxysilane, which was modified on the surface of the Fe3O4/ZIF-8 nanocomposite through the sol-gel technique and electrostatic interaction as well as π-π stacking interaction. The synthetic Fe3O4/ZIF-8/APBA exhibited high adsorption capacity and good specificity toward glycoproteins. Moreover, the Fe3O4/ZIF-8/APBA possessed high saturation magnetization (51.41 emu g-1) and achieved better separation in the presence of an external magnetic field. Above all, the as-designed Fe3O4/ZIF-8/APBA was successfully used to capture glycoproteins and identify the horseradish peroxidase (HRP) tryptic digest. This study provides a facile strategy to embellish the aminophenylboronic acid onto the nanocomposite substrate and develop a new material for the specific recognition and enrichment of glycoproteins and low-abundance glycopeptides in proteomics research.

One-step functionalization of magnetic nanoparticles with 4-mercaptophenylboronic acid for a highly efficient analysis of N-glycopeptides

A very simple and amazing approach was proposed to synthesize MPBA functionalized magnetic nanoparticles via the interaction between Fe and SH, and the as-prepared nanoparticles were successfully applied for the efficient analysis of glycopeptides in complex bio-samples with sensitivity and selectivity.

Boronic Acid-Modified Magnetic Fe3O4@mTiO2 Microspheres for Highly Sensitive and Selective Enrichment of N-Glycopeptides in Amniotic Fluid

Although mesoporous materials and magnetic materials are used to enrich glycopeptides, materials sharing both mesoporous structures and magnetic properties have not been reported for glycopeptide analyses. Here we prepared boronic acid-modified magnetic Fe₃O₄@mTiO₂ microspheres by covalent binding of boronic acid molecules onto the surfaces of silanized Fe₃O₄@mTiO₂ microspheres. The final particles (denoted as B-Fe₃O₄@mTiO₂) showed a typical magnetic hysteresis curve, indicating superparamagnetic behavior; meanwhile, their mesoporous sizes did not change in spite of the reduction in surface area and pore volume. By using these particles together with conventional poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) nanobeads, we then developed a synergistic approach for highly specific and efficient enrichment of N-glycopeptides/glycoproteins. Owing to the introduction of PMMA nanobeads that have strong adsorption towards nonglycopeptides, the number of N-glycopeptides detected and the signal-to-noise ratio in analyzing standard proteins mixture both increased appreciably. The recovery of N-glycopeptides by the synergistic method reached 92.1%, much improved than from B-Fe₃O₄@mTiO₂ alone that was 75.3%. Finally, we tested this approach in the analysis of amniotic fluid, obtaining the maximum number and ratio of N-glycopeptides compared to the use of B-Fe₃O₄@mTiO₂ alone and commercial SiMAG-boronic acid particles. This ensemble provides an interesting and efficient enrichment platform for glycoproteomics research.

Functional dual hydrophilic dendrimer-modified metal-organic framework for the selective enrichment of N-glycopeptides

Analysis of protein glycosylation remains a significant challenge due to the low abundance of glycoproteins or N-glycopeptides. Here we have synthesized an amino-functionalized metal-organic framework (MOF) MIL-101(Cr)-NH₂ whose surface is grafted with a hydrophilic dendrimer poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) for N-glycopeptide enrichment based on the hydrophilic interactions. The selected substrate MOF MIL-101(Cr) owns high surface area which provides nice support for peptide adsorption. In addition, the MOF displayed a good hydrophilic property after being modified with amino groups. Most importantly, the grafted hydrophilic dendrimer PAMAM was firstly applied in the postsynthetic modification of MOFs. And this functionalization route using macromolecular dendrimer opens a new perspective in MOFs design. Owing to its long dendritic chains and abundant amino groups, our material displayed dual hydrophilic property. In the enrichment of standard glycoprotein HRP digestion, the functional MOF material was shown to have low detection limit (1 fmol/μL) and good selectivity when the concentration of nonglycopeptides was 100 fold higher than the target N-glycopeptides. All the results proved that MIL-101(Cr)-NH₂ @PAMAM has great potential in the glycoproteome analysis.

Nanotechnology in Glycomics: Applications in Diagnostics, Therapy, Imaging, and Separation Processes

This review comprehensively covers the most recent achievements (from 2013) in the successful integration of nanomaterials in the field of glycomics. The first part of the paper addresses the beneficial properties of nanomaterials for the construction of biosensors, bioanalytical devices, and protocols for the detection of various analytes, including viruses and whole cells, together with their key characteristics. The second part of the review focuses on the application of nanomaterials integrated with glycans for various biomedical applications, that is, vaccines against viral and bacterial infections and cancer cells, as therapeutic agents, for in vivo imaging and nuclear magnetic resonance imaging, and for selective drug delivery. The final part of the review describes various ways in which glycan enrichment can be effectively done using nanomaterials, molecularly imprinted polymers with polymer thickness controlled at the nanoscale, with a subsequent analysis of glycans by mass spectrometry. A short section describing an active glycoprofiling by microengines (microrockets) is covered as well.

pH-Responsive magnetic metal-organic framework nanocomposites for selective capture and release of glycoproteins

Novel magnetic metal-organic framework nanocomposites with 1,4-phenylenebisboronic acid as both an organic ligand and a functional molecule are proposed for the first time as a new type of intelligent nanomaterial to selectively capture and release glycoproteins via pH-stimulus-response, and would be of great potential for use in bio-separation.

pH-Responsive magnetic nanospheres for the reversibly selective capture and release of glycoproteins

We present a pH-stimuli-responsive strategy to reversibly capture and release glycoproteins with high selectivity from a pure protein, model protein mixture and even a real biological sample.

Recent advances in mass spectrometric analysis of glycoproteins

Glycosylation is one of the most common posttranslational modifications of proteins that plays essential roles in various biological processes, including protein folding, host-pathogen interaction, immune response, and inflammation and aberrant protein glycosylation is a well-known event in various disease states including cancer. As a result, it is critical to develop rapid and sensitive methods for the analysis of abnormal glycoproteins associated with diseases. Mass spectrometry (MS) in conjunction with different separation methods, such as capillary electrophoresis (CE), ion mobility (IM), and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) has become a popular tool for glycoprotein analysis, providing highly informative fragments for structural identification of glycoproteins. This review provides an overview of the developments and accomplishments in the field of glycomics and glycoproteomics reported between 2014 and 2016.

Development of Versatile Metal-Organic Framework Functionalized Magnetic Graphene Core-Shell Biocomposite for Highly Specific Recognition of Glycopeptides

Protein N-glycosylation is a ubiquitous and important post-translational modification that has been involved in the development and progression of a series of human-related diseases. Until recently, the highly selective capturing of glycopeptides from complex biosamples was still significant and challenging work due to their changeable structures, ultralow abundance, and strong ion-suppressing effect. Here we first report the preparation and characterization of a novel, hydrophilic, porous biocomposite composed of magnetic graphene functionalized with metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) (MG@Zn-MOFs) able to recognize glycopeptides. Thanks to its strong magnetic responsiveness, large specific surface area, excellent biocompatibility, and unique size-exclusion effect, the MG@Zn-MOFs showed outstanding sensitivity and selectivity and good recyclability in glycopeptides analysis. More excitingly, in practical application, 517 N-glycopeptides within 151 unique glycoproteins were clearly identified from human serum (1 μL) treated with the MG@Zn-MOFs, which is the best result among published reports so far. All the results demonstrate the promising commercialized usage of the biocomposite for the enrichment of glycopeptides in complex samples through a convenient and efficient process. Furthermore, it is anticipated that our strategy may offer promising guidance to develop new biocomposites functionalized with bio-MOFs for glycoproteomic applications.

A double responsive smart upconversion fluorescence sensing material for glycoprotein

A novel strategy was developed to prepare double responsive smart upconversion fluorescence material for highly specific enrichment and sensing of glycoprotein. The novel double responsive smart sensing material was synthesized by choosing Horse radish peroxidase (HRP) as modal protein, the grapheme oxide (GO) as support material, upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) as fluorescence signal reporter, N-isopropyl acrylamide (NIPAAM) and 4-vinylphenylboronic acid (VPBA) as functional monomers. The structure and component of smart sensing material was investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic (XPS) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), respectively. These results illustrated the smart sensing material was prepared successfully. The recognition characterizations of smart sensing material were evaluated, and results showed that the fluorescence intensity of smart sensing material was reduced gradually, as the concentration of protein increased, and the smart sensing material showed selective recognition for HRP among other proteins. Furthermore, the recognition ability of the smart sensing material for glycoprotein was regulated by controlling the pH value and temperature. Therefore, this strategy opens up new way to construct smart material for detection of glycoprotein.

Boronic Acid-Functionalized Particles with Flexible Three-Dimensional Polymer Branch for Highly Specific Recognition of Glycoproteins

A novel organic-inorganic hybrid particle with high hydrophilicity three-dimensional boronic acid functional polymer branches was facilely synthesized through thiol-ene surface-initiated click reaction, by which the target glycoprotein could be captured selectively in the 5000-fold disrupting protein. This highest selectivity ever reported demonstrated that this boronic acid functionalized particle exhibited great potential in the recognition of cis-diol-containing biomolecules, including the glycoproteins.

A facile and cheap synthesis of zwitterion coatings of the CS@PGMA@IDA nanomaterial for highly specific enrichment of glycopeptides

Zwitterion coatings of CS@PGMA@IDA nanospheres have the combination of biospecific molecules with bioinert coatings that can selectively bind to glycopeptides