Electrophoresis-based sequencing of oligosaccharides

The electrophoretic isolation and monosaccharide sequence determination of a neutral or weakly acidic oligosaccharide species of interest are disclosed. A labeling compound and a charged group are coupled to the reducing end of the species of interest, thereby facilitating electrophoretic separation and detection of the separated species. The resolved species of interest can then be recovered from the electrophoretic medium, for example, by electrophoretic transfer to a charged solid support.Following isolation, monosaccharide units can be cleaved successively from the non-reducing end of the species of interest to reveal the monosaccharide sequence. The identity of each monosaccharide unit is determined by correlating cleavage data with known exoglycosidase specificites.