Determination of the components of monosaccharides and oligosaccharides in sugar chains is still an important technique for the biochemistry of glycoconjugates, and a sensitive, rapid and precise method is required. For the carbohydrate analysis, various methods have been reported using GC, 1-3 LC 4-18 and CE, [19][20][21][22] and among them, HPLC with reductive amination 8,[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] is widely used. Reductive amination is a method which introduces chromophores or fluorophores onto the reducing end of the saccharides, and a number of reagents including 2-aminopyridine have been reported. In the previous study, we investigated some aromatic amines, searching for a superior precolumn fluorescence derivatizing reagent for saccharides 23,24 and found that aminopyrazine is suitable for sensitive determination. In the study, 8 monosaccharides derivatized with aminopyrazine were completely separated by anion-exchange HPLC within 45 min. 24 The sensitivities for N-acetylated monosaccharides were about 4 times higher than those of neutral monosaccharides, suggesting that the selective determination could be carried out using aminopyrazine. However, the method has a disadvantage with respect to analytical time, and a rapid method is required. In addition, for the precise determination of components of monosaccharides in glycoconjugates, two-dimensional analysis is needed, and a method other than anion-exchange HPLC is required. Therefore, in this investigation, we describe a rapid reversed-phase HPLC method for the determination of monosaccharides derivatized with aminopyrazine; the determination of the components of monosaccharides in transferrin, fetuin and ovalbumin was carried out. The same samples were also determined by anion-exchange HPLC, and the values obtained by both methods were compared. In addition, to elucidate the chemical structures of the fluorophores and selectivity of aminopyrazine to the N-acetylated monosaccharide, we synthesized the glucose (Glc) derivative and Nacetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) derivative and investigated their fluorescence characteristics.
Experimental
MaterialsAminopyrazine and ribose were purchased from Nacalai Tesque (Kyoto, Japan).Dimethylamine-borane complex, acetonitrile of HPLC grade, Glc, galactose (Gal), mannose (Man), rhamnose (Rha), xylose (Xyl), fucose (Fuc), GlcNAc, Nacetylgalactosamine (GalNAc), and transferrin (human serum) were purchased from Wako Pure Chemical Industries (Osaka, Japan). Fetuin (bovine serum) was obtained from Sigma Chemical Co. (St. Louis, MO, USA); ovalbumin (chicken egg) was from Seikagaku Corporation (Tokyo, Japan). Silica gel 60 and Sephadex G-10 were obtained from Merck (Darmstadt, Germany) and Pharmacy Biotech (Uppsala, Sweden), respectively. Water was purified by the Milli-Q II system (Millipore, Bedford, MA, USA). Other reagents and solvents were of reagent grade.
High performance liquid chromatographyThe HPLC system used was comprised of a Trirotar-V pump (Jasco, Tokyo, Japan), a 7125 injector (Rheodyne, Cotati, CA, USA...