Relative Quantification and Higher-Order Model of Plasma Glycan Cancer Burden Ratio in Ovarian Cancer Case-Control Samples

Hecht, E.S.; Scholl, E.H.; Walker, S.H.; et al.

Investigations into the regulation of the N-linked glycome by cancer and disease demands rigorous quantitative methods afforded by stable isotope labeling and identification given by the specificity of mass spectrometry. N-linked glycans present challenges to MS because of the complexity of their structures (MS/MS or MSn required), hydrophilicity, and low abundance. The Individuality Normalization when Labeling with Glycan Hydrazide Tags (INLIGHT^®) strategy removes the burden of pre-enrichment, enhances ESI sensitivity, and allows accurate relative quantification. Applied to ovarian cancer research, these advantages of INLIGHT facilitated the observation of low-abundant glycans, quantitative determination of highly significantly regulated compositions, and revealed new trends in glycan expression with cancer stage.