Structure elucidation of glycosphingolipids and gangliosides using high-performance tandem mass spectrometry

Glycosphingolipids and gangliosides have been investigated by using fast atom bombardment high-performance tandem mass spectrometry (FABMS/MS). Homologous compounds have been investigated in order to ascertain the fragmentation. Collision-induced dissociation spectra of the molecular species in the positive ion mode mainly afford information on the ceramide constitution (aglycon as a whole, N-acyl residue, and long-chain base), whereas negative ion spectra show fragments informative of the sugar sequence and the degree of branching of the carbohydrate. In the case of gangliosides carrying a complex oligosaccharide moiety, collision spectra of fragment ions have been performed in order to gain additional structural data. The advantage of tandem mass spectrometry over conventional fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry (FABMS) consists in the fact that collision spectra of the individual components from mixtures, as usually encountered with these kinds of samples, can be recorded. Furthermore, the exclusion of most of the interfering signals from the matrix allows the identification of pertinent fragments at low mass.