Enhancing Accuracy in Molecular Weight Determination of Highly Heterogeneously Glycosylated Proteins by Native Tandem Mass Spectrometry.

The determination of molecular weights (MWs) of heavily glycosylated proteins is seriously hampered by the physicochemical characteristics and heterogeneity of the attached carbohydrates. Glycosylation impacts protein migration during sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) analysis. Standard electrospray ionization (ESI)-mass spectrometry does not provide a direct solution as this approach is hindered by extensive interference of ion signals caused by closely spaced charge states of broadly distributed glycoforms.