Cracking the Sugar Code by Mass Spectrometry : An Invited Perspective in Honor of Dr. Catherine E. Costello, Recipient of the 2017 ASMS Distinguished Contribution Award

Abstract

The structural study of glycans and glycoconjugates is essential to assign their roles in homeostasis, health, and disease. Once dominated by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, mass spectrometric methods have become the preferred toolbox for the determination of glycan structures at high sensitivity. The patterns of such structures in different cellular states now allow us to interpret the sugar codes in health and disease, based on structure-function relationships. Dr. Catherine E. Costello was the 2017 recipient of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry's Distinguished Contribution Award. In this Perspective article, we describe her seminal work in a historical and geographical context and review the impact of her research accomplishments in the field.8 ᅟ Graphical abstract.

Keywords: Glycan mass spectrometry; History of mass spectrometry; Review; Structural mass spectrometry.

ᅟ Graphical abstract

Figure 1

Fragmentation of an N-linked glycopeptide ECD (top) and IRMPD (bottom) demonstrate strict complementarity [68]

Figure 2

Oligosaccharide fragmentation nomenclature as developed by Domon and Costello [25]. The comprehensive system includes a code for dissociation between saccharide moieties as well as cross-ring fragmentation types