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Review
. 2018 Oct 7;23(10):2557.
doi: 10.3390/molecules23102557.

Applications of Ion Mobility-Mass Spectrometry in Carbohydrate Chemistry and Glycobiology

Yuqing Mu  1   2 , Benjamin L Schulz  3   4   5 , Vito Ferro  6   7
Affiliations
Review

Applications of Ion Mobility-Mass Spectrometry in Carbohydrate Chemistry and Glycobiology

Yuqing Mu et al. Molecules. .

Abstract

Carbohydrate analyses are often challenging due to the structural complexity of these molecules, as well as the lack of suitable analytical tools for distinguishing the vast number of possible isomers. The coupled technique, ion mobility-mass spectrometry (IM-MS), has been in use for two decades for the analysis of complex biomolecules, and in recent years it has emerged as a powerful technique for the analysis of carbohydrates. For carbohydrates, most studies have focused on the separation and characterization of isomers in biological samples. IM-MS is capable of separating isomeric ions by drift time, and further characterizing them by mass analysis. Applications of IM-MS in carbohydrate analysis are extremely useful and important for understanding many biological mechanisms and for the determination of disease states, although efforts are still needed for higher sensitivity and resolution.

Keywords: carbohydrates; ion mobility-mass spectrometry (IM-MS); isomeric ions.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The complexity of carbohydrate structures results from the constitution and spatial distribution of monosaccharides as well as the connectivity and configuration of the glycosidic bonds that link sugar molecules. Adapted from Hofmann et al. [14].
Figure 2
Figure 2
A simplified model for a typical IM-MS instrument.
Figure 3
Figure 3
An illustration of the drift area of different IMS instruments. (a) DTIMS: ionized molecules travel against neutral drift gas through a uniform electrostatic field and are separated in a time-dispersive manner; (b) TWIMS: ionized molecules travel against neutral drift gas through an electrodynamic field and are separated in a time-dispersive manner; (c) FAIMS: ionized molecules travel flow through an electric field applied with greatly varied voltage and are separated in a space-dispersive manner such that only ions with specific mobility reach the electrometer.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Unambiguous separation of two monosaccharide isomers by IM-MS [12] (reproduced with permission).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Structures and IM-MS spectra of a mixture of trisaccharide isomers melezitose, raffinose and isomaltotriose [4] (reproduced with permission).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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