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Updated: May 15, 2026
Detection of Glycosaminoglycans by Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis and Silver Staining
Published on: February 25, 2021
Quantification of glycosaminoglycans in urine by isotope-dilution liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization
Haoyue Zhang1, Sarah P Young, David S Millington
1Division of Medical Genetics, Department of Pediatrics, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA.
Abstract:
Mucopolysaccharidoses (MPSs) are complex lysosomal storage disorders that result in the accumulation of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) in urine, blood, and tissues. Lysosomal enzymes responsible for GAG degradation are defective in MPSs. GAGs including chondroitin sulfate (CS), dermatan sulfate (DS), heparan sulfate (HS), and keratan sulfate (KS) are disease-specific biomarkers for MPSs. This unit describes a stable isotope dilution-tandem mass spectrometric method for quantifying CS, DS, and HS in urine samples. The GAGs are methanolyzed to uronic or iduronic acid-N-acetylhexosamine or iduronic acid-N-sulfo-glucosamine dimers and mixed with internal standards derived from deuteriomethanolysis of GAG standards. Specific dimers derived from HS, DS, and CS are separated by ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) and analyzed by electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) using selected reaction monitoring for each targeted GAG product and its corresponding internal standard. This new GAG assay is useful for identifying patients with MPS types I, II, III, VI, and VII.
