LAUSR

The combination of helium charge transfer dissociation mass spectrometry (He-CTD-MS) with ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) is presented for the analysis of a complex mixture of acidic and neutral human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs). The research focuses on the identification of the monosaccharide sequence, the branching patterns, sialylation/fucosylation arrangements, and the differentiation of isomeric oligosaccharides in the mixture. Initial studies first optimized the conditions for the UHPLC separation and the He-CTD-MS conditions. Results demonstrate that He-CTD is compatible with UHPLC timescales and provides unambiguous glycosidic and cross-ring cleavages from both the reducing and the non-reducing ends, which is not typically possible using collision-induced dissociation (CID). He-CTD produces informative fragments, including 0,3An and 0,4An ions, which have been observed with electron transfer dissociation (ETD), electron detachment dissociation (EDD), and ultraviolet photodissociation (UVPD) and are crucial for differentiating the α-2,3- vs α-2,6-linked sialic acid (Neu5Ac) residues present among sialyllacto-N-tetraose HMOs. In addition to the linkage positions, He-CTD is able to differentiate structural isomers for both sialyllacto-N-tetraoses and lacto-N-fucopentaoses structures by providing unique, unambiguous cross ring cleavages of types 0,2An, 0,2Xn and 1,5An while preserving most of the labile Neu5Ac and fucose groups.