Combination of IgG N-glycomics and corresponding transcriptomics data to identify anti-TNF-α treatment responders in inflammatory diseases

Prediction of responsiveness in biological therapies is an important and challenging issue in different diseases. Analyzing glycosylation pattern changes of key serum glycoproteins is one of the possible avenues to follow disease remission. The aim of this study was to investigate the changes of serum IgG glycoforms in Crohn's disease (CD) and rheumatoid arthritis patients in response to antitumor necrosis factor alpha (anti-TNF-alpha) treatment. IgG was isolated from patient serum samples using Protein A affinity pull-down, followed by the release of N-glycans with peptide-N-glycosidase F. The released glycans were fluorescently tagged with 8-aminopyrene-1,3,6-trisulfonate and analyzed by CGE with laser-induced fluorescent detection. Significant alterations were detected between responders and nonresponders in both disease groups. In CD patients, disease-specific alteration was found in response to anti-TNF-alpha therapy, which was also confirmed by transcriptomics data analysis of the corresponding glycosyltransferases and glycosidases.