Research Progress on the Structure Analysis of Saccharides by Mass Spectrometry Technology

As a group of bioinformation molecules, saccharides play significant roles in many life activities. Due to their structural complexity, structural analysis of saccharides is the bottleneck of glycobiology research. In many structural analysis methods of saccharides, mass spectrometry technology is considered as an important, indispensable way. This paper summarized the advances in study on the structure analysis of saccharides by mass spectrometry and chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. The methods of electron impact mass spectrometry, chemical ionization mass spectrometry, fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry, electro-spray ionization mass spectrometry, matrix-assisted laser desorption mass spectrometry and chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry were presented. This paper compared the advantages and disadvantages in the qualitative and qualitative analysis of saccharides. With the development of mass spectrometry techniques, the improvement of glycans release and derivatization method and further spectral analysis work, mass spectrometry technology will become a powerful tool for structure analysis of saccharides.