Characterisation of disaccharide fragments from the enzymatic digestion of heparin by liquid secondary ion mass spectrometry

Disaccharide fragments resulting from the enzymatic digestion of heparins with heparinase have been purified by gel filtration chromatography and directly analyzed by positive and negative ion liquid secondary ion mass spectrometry (LSIMS). Following the chromatographic purification from excess sodium salt, the mass spectra of di- and tetrasaccharide fragment mixtures enabled the identification of up to three covalently bound sulfate moieties per glycosaminoglycan-disaccharide unit, by means of their molecular ions, containing the corresponding alkali-counterions.