Pre-staining of glycoprotein in SDS-PAGE by the synthesis of a new hydrazide derivative

In this study, a new hydrazide derivative (UGF202) was synthesized and introduced as a highly sensitive and selective fluorescent probe to pre-stain glycoproteins in 1D and 2D SDS-PAGE. As low as 0.5-1 ng glycoproteins (transferrin, alpha 1-acid glycoprotein, avidin) could be selectively detected, which is comparable to that of Pro-Q Emerald 300 stain, one of the most sensitive and commonly used glycoprotein staining kit. In addition, the specificity of the newly developed method was confirmed by the study of de-glycosylation, glycoproteins affinity enrichment and LC-MS/MS, respectively. According to the results, it is concluded that UGF202 pre-stain can provide an alternative for the visualization of gel-separated glycoproteins.