N. Morimoto et al., Specific distribution of sialic acids in animal tissues as examined by LC - ESI-MS after derivatization with 1,2-diamino-4,5-methylenedioxybenzene, ANALYT CHEM, 73(22), 2001, pp. 5422-5428
Simultaneous analysis of sialic acids has been a challenging target, becaus
e sialic acids having N- or O-acetyl, glycolyl, and sulfonic acid ester gro
ups are labile during their release from carbohydrate chains and analytical
procedures. In the present paper, we propose a method using high-performan
ce liquid chromatography coupled with eletrospray ionization mass spectrome
try (HPLC-ESI-MS). The method was evaluated by applying to the analysis of
sialic acids in various tissues, especially digestive organs in mice and ra
ts. The method was based on the in situ precolumn derivatization of sialic
acids after releasing them by hydrolysis. The sialic acids were derivatized
with 1,2-diamino-4,5-methylenedioxybenzene to form highly fluorescent quin
oxaline derivatives. By using two different hydrolysis conditions (i.e., wi
th 2 M acetic acid and with 0. 1 M hydrochloric acid), both total sialic ac
ids and sialic acid distributions were easily determined. We found that sia
lic acids showed characteristic distributions in the tissues of mice and ra
ts. Further, HPLC-ESI-MS revealed that all the tissues examined in mice and
rats commonly contained highly acetylated sialic acids and 8-O-sulfated N-
acetylneuraminic acid.