Determination of meningococcal polysaccharides by capillary zone electrophoresis

Meningococcal polysaccharides are medically important molecules and are the active components of vaccines against Neisseria meningiditis serogroups A, C, W135, and Y. This study demonstrates that free solution capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) using simple phosphate/borate separation buffers is capable of separating intact, native polysaccharides from these four serogroups. Separation appeared to be robust with respect to variations in test conditions and behaved in expected ways with respect to changes in temperature, ionic strength, and addition of an organic modifier. Serogroups W135 and Y are composed of sialic acid residues alternating with either galactose or glucose, respectively. Separation of these serogroups could be achieved using phosphate buffer and was therefore not dependent on differential complexation with borate. Addition of sodium dodecyl sulfate to the separation buffer (i.e., MEKC) resulted in peak splitting for all four serogroups. Changes in polysaccharide size did not affect migration time for the size range examined, but serogroup C polysaccharide (a sialic acid homopolymer) was separable from sialic acid monosaccharide. CZE quantification of multiple lots of each of the four serogroups was compared to wet chemical determination by phosphorus or sialic acid measurement. Results from CZE determination showed good agreement with the wet chemical methods.