Liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry equipped with a graphitized carbon column is useful for the simultaneous analysis of oligosaccharides. By using capillary column and nanoelectrospray ion source, the method can be used for the oligosaccharide profiling of sub microgram quantities of glycoproteins. This oligosaccharide profiling is expected to be a powerful tool for the glycome analysis. We demonstrate a potential application of oligosaccharide profiling in glycomics with two examples, the structural analysis of N-linked oligosaccharides from a gel-separated glycoprotein, and the differential analysis of N-linked oligosaccharides in cells.
