Chemical de-O-glycosylation of glycoproteins for application in LC-based proteomics

We describe a cyclic on-column procedure for the sequential degradation of complex O-glycans on proteins or peptides by periodate oxidation of sugars and cleavage of oxidation products by elimination. Desialylated glycoproteins were immobilized to alkali-stable, reversed-phase Poros 20 beads followed by two degradation cycles and the eluted apoproteins were either separated by SDS gel electrophoresis or digested with trypsin prior to LC/ESI-MS. We demonstrate on the peptide and protein level that even complex glycan moieties are removed under mild conditions with only minimal effects on structural integrity of the peptide core by fragmentation, dehydration or by racemization of the Lys/Arg residues. The protocol is applicable on gel-immobilized glycoproteins after SDS gel electrophoresis. Conversion of O-glycoproteins into their corresponding apoproteins should result in facilitated accessibility of tryptic cleavage sites, increase the numbers of peptide fragments, and accordingly enhance protein coverage and identification rates within the subproteome of mucin-type O-glycoproteins.