Proteins and lipids decorated with glycans are found throughout biological entities, playing roles in biological functions and dysfunctions. Current analytical strategies for these glycan-decorated biomolecules, termed glycoconjugates, rely on ensemble-averaged methods that do not provide a full view of positions and structures of glycans attached at individual sites in a given molecule, especially for glycoproteins. We show single-molecule analysis of glycoconjugates by direct imaging of individual glycoconjugate molecules using low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy. Intact glycoconjugate ions from electrospray are soft-landed on a surface for their direct single-molecule imaging. The submolecular imaging resolution corroborated by quantum mechanical modeling unveils whole structures and attachment sites of glycans in glycopeptides, glycolipids, N-glycoproteins, and O-glycoproteins densely decorated with glycans.
WOS:001112161200034
2023-10-13
382
6667
219
REVIEWED
EPFL
Funder | Grant Number |
Alexander von Humboldt Foundation | |
Baden Wurttemberg Foundation Project GlycoPepSurf | |
European Research Council Project GlycoX grant | 101075996 |
EMBO Postdoctoral Fellowship Program | |
Mizutani Foundation | |
Novo Nordisk Foundation | NNF21OC0071658 |
Lundbeck Foundation | R223-2016-563 |
Danish National Research Foundation | DNRF107 |
Carlsberg Foundation | CF20-0412 |