Abstract
The study of saliva O-glycosylation is receiving increasing attention due to the potential of glycans for disease biomarkers, but also due to easy access and non-invasive collection of saliva as biological fluid. Saliva is rich in glycoproteins which are secreted from the bloodstream or produced by salivary glands. Mucins, which are highly O-glycosylated proteins, are particularly abundant in human saliva. Their glycosylation is associated with blood group and secretor status, and represents a reservoir of potential disease biomarkers. This study aims to analyse and compare O-glycans released from whole human mouth saliva collected 3 times a day from a healthy individual over a 5 days period. O-linked glycans were released by hydrazinolysis, labelled with procainamide and analysed by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (UHPLC-FLR) coupled to electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS). The sample preparation method showed excellent reproducibility and can therefore be used for biomarker discovery. Our data demonstrates that the O-glycosylation in human saliva changes significantly during the day. These changes may be related to changes in the salivary concentrations of specific proteins.
Highlights
Saliva is a unique fluid that lubricates and buffers the oral cavity [1,2]
The saliva samples and fetuin glycoprotein were buffer exchanged into 0.1% TFA prior to hydrazinolysis as described previously [40]
We investigated whether the sample preparation and glycan release method is suitable for saliva samples
Summary
Saliva is a unique fluid that lubricates and buffers the oral cavity [1,2]. It protects the oral cavity from microbial attack involving both the innate and acquired immune surveillances. Saliva contains a wide spectrum of microbes, epithelial cells, proteins/peptides, electrolytes, hormones, nasal and bronchial secretions and serum product [4,5,6,7]. Mucins are dominant compounds in human saliva and play an important role in the maintenance of oral health and protection of teeth as part of PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0162824. Mucins are dominant compounds in human saliva and play an important role in the maintenance of oral health and protection of teeth as part of PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0162824 September 9, 2016
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