Hitting the sweet spot with capillary electrophoresis: advances in N-glycomics and glycoproteomics

N-glycosylation is of paramount importance for understanding the mechanisms of various human diseases and ensuring the safety and efficacy of biotherapeutics. Traditional glycan analysis techniques include LC-based separations and MALDI-TOF-MS identification. However, the current state-of-the-art methods lack throughput and structural information, include laborious sample preparation procedures and require large sample volumes. Capillary electrophoresis (CE) has long been used for the screening and reliable quantitation of glycans, but its applications have been limited. Because of its speed, sensitivity and complementarity with standard glycan analysis techniques, CE is currently emerging as one of the most versatile and adaptable methods for glycan analysis in both academia and industry. Herein, we review the latest advancements in CE-based applications to glycomics and glycoproteomics within both the biopharmaceutical and clinical sectors.