Title:Structure-to-function Relationship of Carbohydrates in the Mechanism of Lysosomal Storage Disorders (LSDs)
VOLUME: 21 ISSUE: 27
Author(s):Mirela Sarbu, Claudia Cozma and Alina D. Zamfir*
Affiliation:Aurel Vlaicu University of Arad, National Institute for Research and Development in Electrochemistry and Condensed Matter, Timisoara, Centogene AG, Schillingallee 68, Rostock, Aurel Vlaicu University of Arad, National Institute for Research and Development in Electrochemistry and Condensed Matter, Timisoara
Keywords:High performance mass spectrometry; electrospray ionization; microfluidics; lysosomal storage disorders; glycoconjugates; carbohydrates.
Abstract:In the past decades, the advancement in system biology together with the expansion of analytical and
biochemical techniques, pawed the way for investigating the complicated concept known as glycomics. The
complexity and diversity of sugar chemical structures following the complex enzymatic biosynthesis, as well as
all changes that take place in the glycome during growth, development and disease of the organism, have raised
the interest in deciphering the glycan and glycoconjugate structure-to-function relationship and moreover, in profiling
the glycome in view of potential disorder glycan biomarkers. The smallest modification within the normal
degradation process of glycans causes a “domino effect”, hampering the subsequent degradation stages and finally,
triggering specific disorders. This is also the case of the lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs), a heterogeneous
group of inborn errors of metabolism caused by mutations in genes that encode mostly lysosomal hydrolases.
The present paper summarizes relevant developments in the field of LSD investigation and diagnosis by employing
various methodologies, such as fluorimetric assays and mass spectrometry (MS), with a particular emphasis
on the detection and identification in a high throughput mode of various biomarkers in complex mixtures by high
performance MS instruments, coupled with different microfluidic systems or with ion mobility spectrometry, the
most proficient separation technique available nowadays. Monitoring biomarker expression in biological fluids is
useful not just to measure the disease progression and to assess the most effective therapeutic regimens, but also
to determine the susceptibility or recurrence degree of the disease.
