Content of research

Sialylation (addition of sialic acid) of glycans and glycoconjugates is an important biomarker involved in various biological phenomena such as development, differentiation, disease, infection, and immunity. MALDI (matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization) is a simple and sensitive soft ionization method. However, the ionization efficiency of unmodified sialic acid-containing glycans is low, and there is a problem that the spectrum becomes complicated due to cleavage of sialic acids or other reasons. With this technique, we succeeded in measuring sialylated glycans and glycoconjugates with high sensitivity and high resolution without undergoing any modification process by improving the addition system to the conventional matrix while suppressing sialic acid desorption. With the change in the cleavage pattern and the increased sensitivity, TOF/TOF analysis and pseudo-MS3 analysis can now be performed using ultra-trace samples. This method does not require chemical modification and separation steps, and enables reaction tracking and rapid sample analysis.

Potential for social implementation

• The application of this technology is expected to accelerate the quality control of sialylated glycans and glycoconjugates and related biomarker discovery research.

Appealing points to industry and local governments

This is a new technology published in 2019. We intend to accelerate our research and strengthen our patent by filing a priority application.