GSL is constituted of a sugar chain and ceramide anchor. It plays a key part in various organismal processes. It is shown that disordered glycosphingolipid metabolism is involved in some diseases such as hereditary spastic paraplegia, and hereditary sensory neuropathy type 1. It is crucial to characterize the number and sequence of monosaccharides and their anomeric configuration and linkage types for researching the effects of GSLs. GSL structure analysis is booming because of the wide use of biochemical and biophysical technologies. MS plays a pivotal role in studying the structures and functions of GSLs.
Fig.1 The biosynthetic pathway of GSL. (CD BioGlyco)
CD BioGlyco has developed some TLC-MS analytical methods for GSL structural characterization. TLC is a common planar chromatographic technique that is applied for the purification of chemical mixtures in many areas. It is conducted with the eluent and a TLC plate composed of a non-reactive solid covered with a thin layer of adsorbent material. The sample is deposited on the plate and then eluted with the mobile phase, a solvent or solvent mixture. Some substances are more attracted to the mobile phase, while others are more attracted to the eluent. Consequently, different substances are separated as a result of their different movement speeds at the TLC plate. It is required to add some spectroscopic information for the characterization of unknown substances. Therefore, some other analytical approaches are coupled to TLC, such as absorption or fluorescence spectroscopy. However, MS is the most effective technique that is combined with TLC in the analytical chemistry area.
At CD BioGlyco, we associate the two techniques for GSL structural identification. Our approaches are different according to the mass spectrometric ion sources used, the sample of the analytes from the adsorbent, and the methods used to separate them. According to the sampling ways, our TLC-MS techniques are divided into two types: indirect sampling TLC-MS and direct sampling TLC-MS techniques. Compared to using indirect techniques, CD BioGlyco is inclined to analyze GSL structures by the direct method because it doesn't need those tedious pretreatments.
Fig.2 Flow chart of various MS techniques used to characterize GSLs on the surface of TLC plates. (CD BioGlyco)
CD BioGlyco provides a complete GSL structure analysis program that is customized by our top experts. We also offer one-stop solutions for Carbohydrate Separation, Purification and Analysis including glycolipids, glycoproteins and some other compounds. If you are interested in our services, please feel free to contact us for more detailed information.
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