The aim of this thesis is to explore the glycosylation of PSA as well as to study if alterations can be observed between patients with indolent and malignant PCa. For this purpose the powerful... Show moreThe aim of this thesis is to explore the glycosylation of PSA as well as to study if alterations can be observed between patients with indolent and malignant PCa. For this purpose the powerful analytical platform CE-ESI-MS(/MS) was explored with a special focus on the analysis of glycans and glycopeptides (Chapter 1). The first section of the thesis describes the different method developments implemented for the analysis of PSA with CE-ESI-MS. Namely, Chapter 2 describes that CE-ESI-MS enables to separate glycopeptides with differently linked sialic acids without any additional sample treatment, Chapter 3 shows that an introduction of a dopant enriched nitrogen gas improves the limit of detection (sensitivity) of glycopeptides and Chapter 4 introduces a novel labeling procedure of total plasma N-glycome with the hydrazide Girard’s reagent P. Chapter 5 describes the development of a PSA Glycomics Assay which allows the capture of intact PSA from patients’ urine followed by analysis with the optimized CE-ESI-MS platform (Chapters 2 and 3). Finally, Chapter 6 offers a general discussion about future developments, the potential of PSA glycosylation in the clinical setting, showing the relevance of our results and how these may contribute to further clinical applications towards personalized medicine. Show less
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 707404” LEaDing Fellows
Clerc, F.; Novokmet, M.; Dotz, V.; Reiding, K.R.; Haan, N. de; Kammeijer, G.S.M.; ... ; IBD-BIOM Consortium 2018
Glycosylation is the most abundant and complex protein modification, and can have a profound structural and functional effect on the conjugate. The oligosaccharide fraction is recognized to be... Show moreGlycosylation is the most abundant and complex protein modification, and can have a profound structural and functional effect on the conjugate. The oligosaccharide fraction is recognized to be involved in multiple biological processes, and to affect proteins physical properties, and has consequentially been labeled a critical quality attribute of biopharmaceuticals. Additionally, due to recent advances in analytical methods and analysis software, glycosylation is targeted in the search for disease biomarkers for early diagnosis and patient stratification. Biofluids such as saliva, serum or plasma are of great use in this regard, as they are easily accessible and can provide relevant glycosylation information. Thus, as the assessment of protein glycosylation is becoming a major element in clinical and biopharmaceutical research, this review aims to convey the current state of knowledge on the N-glycosylation of the major plasma glycoproteins alpha-1-acid glycoprotein, alpha-1-antitrypsin, alpha-1B-glycoprotein, alpha-2-HS-glycoprotein, alpha-2-macroglobulin, antithrombin-III, apolipoprotein B-100, apolipoprotein D, apolipoprotein F, beta-2-glycoprotein 1, ceruloplasmin, fibrinogen, immunoglobulin (Ig) A, IgG, IgM, haptoglobin, hemopexin, histidine-rich glycoprotein, kininogen-1, serotransferrin, vitronectin, and zinc-alpha-2-glycoprotein. In addition, the less abundant immunoglobulins D and E are included because of their major relevance in immunology and biopharmaceutical research. Where available, the glycosylation is described in a site-specific manner. In the discussion, we put the glycosylation of individual proteins into perspective and speculate how the individual proteins may contribute to a total plasma N-glycosylation profile determined at the released glycan level. Show less
