Application of Nanomaterials to Separation of Glycosylated Proteins

Glycosylation as another significant protein post-translational modification occupies over half of the total proteins in a living organism. Studies have unraveled glycosylation participates in the regulation of numerous biological functions, and its abnormality is closely related to a prodigious number of diseases. Glycosylated proteomics encounters the same challenge during mass spectrometry (MS) analysis including the low abundance and poor ionization efficiency, compared to phosphorylated proteomics. Moreover, similar to phosphorylated proteomics, the characteristic groups (cis diol) of glycoproteome that can be easily recognized promote the design and application of nanomaterials. This chapter gives detailed description on the preparation and application of hydrophilic nanomaterials, boronate affinity nanomaterials and hydrazide–based nanomaterials in separation of glycosylated proteins prior to MS detection.