Automatic amino acid and sugar analysis of glycoproteins

Amino acid analyzers were used for complete analyses of glycoproteins. The methods of analysis used were cation-exchange chromatography for amino acids, phosphoamino acids and amino sugars with ninhydrin as reagent, and anion-exchange chromatography for neutral sugars with copper Bicinchoninate as reagent. A separate program was developed for the analysis of charged sugar components, N-acetylneuraminic acid and amino sugars in one chromatogram. The possibility of detection of radioactively labelled components is also demonstrated. The detection limits and possibilities for column and reactor switches are discussed.