Abstract
The structural study of glycans and glycoconjugates is essential to assign their roles in homeostasis, health, and disease. Once dominated by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, mass spectrometric methods have become the preferred toolbox for the determination of glycan structures at high sensitivity. The patterns of such structures in different cellular states now allow us to interpret the sugar codes in health and disease, based on structure-function relationships. Dr. Catherine E. Costello was the 2017 recipient of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry’s Distinguished Contribution Award. In this Perspective article, we describe her seminal work in a historical and geographical context and review the impact of her research accomplishments in the field.8ᅟGraphical abstract
Highlights
Structural elucidation of glycans and glycoconjugates is still not a trivial pursuit, but structural aspects of glycobiology are essential to assign glycoforms’ involvement in homeostasis, health, and disease
At the time that Dr Costello entered the group of Klaus Biemann at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston had already become the major hub of the mass spectrometry
Biemann was a close friend of Einar Stenhagen (Gothenburg University (GU), Sweden); together, they were considered the founders of organic mass spectrometry
Summary
Structural elucidation of glycans and glycoconjugates is still not a trivial pursuit, but structural aspects of glycobiology are essential to assign glycoforms’ involvement in homeostasis, health, and disease. Developed for peptide sequencing, the post-source decay (PSD) method was applied in its early days to the analysis of native oligosaccharides, showing the capabilities to provide both sequence and branching information [60, 61] From her earlier studies, Dr Costello knew that derivatization of glycoconjugates prior to MS results in improved detection sensitivity and affects the fragmentation pattern, facilitating their structural characterization [62]. The studies by Dr Costello’s and other groups clearly showed that both MALDI and ESI MS are well suited to detect the glycosylation profiles of various glycoconjugates Both techniques offered sensitive detection and structural analysis, and it was natural to question whether the observed relative intensities correlate with glycoform abundances. The development of a collisional crosssection (CCS) database for glycomics [78] initiated by Dr Costello has simplified IM MS data analysis
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
