Human Plasma N-Glycoproteome Analysis by Immunoaffinity Subtraction, Hydrazide Chemistry, and Mass Spectrometry

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Abstract
The enormous complexity, wide dynamic range of relative protein abundances of interest (over 10 orders of magnitude), and tremendous heterogeneity (due to post-translational modifications, such as glycosylation) of the human blood plasma proteome severely challenge the capabilities of existing analytical methodologies. Here, we describe an approach for broad analysis of human plasma N-glycoproteins using a combination of immunoaffinity subtraction and glycoprotein capture to reduce both the protein concentration range and the overall sample complexity. Six high-abundance plasma proteins were simultaneously removed using a pre-packed, immobilized antibody column. N-linked glycoproteins were then captured from the depleted plasma using hydrazide resin and enzymatically digested, and the bound N-linked glycopeptides were released using peptide-N-glycosidase F (PNGase F). Following strong cation exchange (SCX) fractionation, the deglycosylated peptides were analyzed by reversed-phase capillary liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC−MS/MS). Using stringent criteria, a total of 2053 different N-glycopeptides were confidently identified, covering 303 nonredundant N-glycoproteins. This enrichment strategy significantly improved detection and enabled identification of a number of low-abundance proteins, exemplified by interleukin-1 receptor antagonist protein (∼200 pg/mL), cathepsin L (∼1 ng/mL), and transforming growth factor beta 1 (∼2 ng/mL). A total of 639 N-glycosylation sites were identified, and the overall high accuracy of these glycosylation site assignments as assessed by accurate mass measurement using high-resolution liquid chromatography coupled to Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (LC−FTICR) is initially demonstrated. Keywords: human plasma • mass spectrometry • proteomics • N-glycosylation • immunoaffinity subtraction

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