A reversed-phase ion-pair high-performance liquid chromatography method for bovine testicular hyaluronidase digests using postcolumn derivatization with 2-cyanoacetamide and ultraviolet detection

Abstract

A reversed-phase ion-pair HPLC method for separating hyaluronic acid oligomers, using a polymeric C18 column at alkaline pH, is described. As the concentration of the ion-pairing agent tetrabutylammonium hydroxide increased, over the range of 0.01 to 0.06 m, the capacity factors ( k′) of tetra- to dodecasaccharide decreased. The change in k′, for each increment in pairing agent, increased with oligomer molecular weight. When changing mobile phase pH from 7 to 8, k′ dramatically decreased and remained unchanged from pH 8 to 11. The isocratic separation was optimized to resolve tetrato dodecasaccharide at pH 9.0 in under 19 min. The postcolumn derivatizing agent 2-cyanoacetamide reacted with the reducing N-acetylglucosamine end groups of hyaluronic acid oligomers to yield reaction products that were monitored at 276 nm. In a series of control experiments using decasaccharide and N-acetylglucosamine, it was found that maximum product formation took place at pH 9 and was greatly influenced by borate buffer concentration. The optimum concentration for 2-cyanoacetamide was 0.33% and a temperature of 100°C gave the best signal to noise ratio for the postcolumn reaction. The method is linear and reproducible, and has a lower limit of detection for tetrasaccharide of 20 ng (25 pmol). This system is suitable for studying the degradation kinetics of purified hyaluronic acid oligomers by bovine testicular hyaluronidase. Extension of the method to fluorescent and electrochemical detection and its applicability to other glycosaminoglycans is discussed.