CSF N-Glycomics Using High-Throughput UPLC-ESI Techniques in Alzheimer’s Disease

In this chapter, we will present a high-throughput method applied in our laboratory for the structural elucidation of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) N-glycome. This methodology is based on a commercial equipment developed by WATERS™ to speed up N-deglycosylation and N-glycan labeling of glycoproteins of pharmaceutical and biological interest such as monoclonal antibodies. This analytical kit is sold under the trade name of RapiFluor-MS (RFMS). We have slightly modified the methodology, increasing the glycosylation time and using a high-resolution mass analyzer for the analysis of CSF N-glycans, thus obtaining a high-throughput method (up to 96 samples simultaneously), mass accuracy better than 5 ppm, and the ability to separate and identify isomers.