{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,6]],"date-time":"2026-02-06T01:35:50Z","timestamp":1770341750736,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":51,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,5,27]],"date-time":"2021-05-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1622073600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pharmaceutics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) is a glycohormone synthesized by adenohypophysis, and it stimulates ovulation in women and spermatogenesis in men by binding to its receptor (FSHR). FSHR is involved in several mechanisms to transduce intracellular signals in response to the FSH stimulus. Exogenous FSH is currently used in the clinic for ovarian hyperstimulation during in vitro fertilization in women, and for treatment of infertility caused by gonadotropin deficiency in men. The glycosylation of FSH strongly affects the binding affinity to its receptor, hence significantly influencing the biological activity of the hormone. Therefore, the accurate measurement and characterization of serum hFSH glycoforms will contribute to elucidating the complex mechanism of action by which different glycoforms elicit distinct biological activity. Nowadays ELISA is the official method with which to monitor serum hFSH, but the test is unable to distinguish between the different FSH glycovariants and is therefore unsuitable to study the biological activity of this hormone. This study presents a preliminary alternative strategy for identifying and quantifying serum hFSH glycoforms based on immunopurification assay and mass spectrometry (MS), and parallel reaction monitoring (PRM) analysis. In this study, we provide an MS\u2013PRM data acquisition method for hFSH glycopeptides identification with high specificity and their quantification by extracting the chromatographic traces of selected fragments of glycopeptides. Once set up for all its features, the proposed method could be transferred to the clinic to improve fertility treatments and follow-ups in men and women.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/pharmaceutics13060798","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,5,27]],"date-time":"2021-05-27T04:30:46Z","timestamp":1622089846000},"page":"798","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Identification and Relative Quantification of hFSH Glycoforms in Women\u2019s Sera via MS\u2013PRM-Based Approach"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7912-6543","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Chiara","family":"Melchiorre","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department Chemical Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Monte S. Angelo-Cinthia, 80126 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Cerina","family":"Chhuon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Proteomics Platform Necker, Universit\u00e9 de Paris\u2013Structure F\u00e9d\u00e9rative de Recherche Necker, INSERM US24\/CNRS UMS3633, 75015 Paris, France"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0530-1737","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vincent","family":"Jung","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Proteomics Platform Necker, Universit\u00e9 de Paris\u2013Structure F\u00e9d\u00e9rative de Recherche Necker, INSERM US24\/CNRS UMS3633, 75015 Paris, France"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Joanna","family":"Lipecka","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Proteomics Platform Necker, Universit\u00e9 de Paris\u2013Structure F\u00e9d\u00e9rative de Recherche Necker, INSERM US24\/CNRS UMS3633, 75015 Paris, France"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3271-4828","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Francesca","family":"Di Rella","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Senology, Istituto Nazionale Tumori IRCCS \u201cFondazione G. Pascale\u201d, 80131 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5676-0055","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alessandro","family":"Conforti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neuroscience, Reproductive Science and Odontostomatology, University of Naples Federico II, 80138 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Angela","family":"Amoresano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department Chemical Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Monte S. Angelo-Cinthia, 80126 Naples, Italy"},{"name":"Istituto Nazionale Biostrutture Biosistemi-Consorzio Interuniversitario-Rome, 00136 Roma, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1944-5355","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andrea","family":"Carpentieri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department Chemical Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Monte S. Angelo-Cinthia, 80126 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4832-6793","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ida Chiara","family":"Guerrera","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Proteomics Platform Necker, Universit\u00e9 de Paris\u2013Structure F\u00e9d\u00e9rative de Recherche Necker, INSERM US24\/CNRS UMS3633, 75015 Paris, France"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,5,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5","DOI":"10.1210\/edrv.21.1.0388","article-title":"Definition and measurement of follicle stimulating hormone","volume":"21","author":"Rose","year":"2000","journal-title":"Endocr. Rev."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Sam, T., and De Leeuw, R. (2013). Follicle-stimulating hormone. 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