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Small Molecule Microarrays pp 227–240Cite as

Synthetic Glycan Microarrays

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Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1518))

Abstract

Structurally diverse glycans are expressed by all animate beings and exert diverse biological functions through specific interactions with glycan binding proteins (GBPs). In humans, glycan–GBP interactions are implicated in many disease-relevant processes in development, infection and immune response to bacterial and viral pathogens. Recent progress in chemical synthesis, including automated glycan assembly, has facilitated access to complex glycans that cannot be isolated from biological material. Glycan immobilization on microarrays allows rapid, multiplexed glycan–GBP interaction studies to reveal biological functions. Synthetic glycan microarrays have enabled, for instance, the identification of glycan ligands for lectins, the definition of vaccine antigens, revealed viral glycan receptors and can serve as diagnostic tools for human disease. Here, we describe the methods to fabricate custom glycan microarrays that are used to examine glycan–GBP binding specificities. Conjugation-ready synthetic glycans are covalently attached to microarray surfaces through nucleophilic linker moieties. Microarrays are incubated with GBPs, and binding events are quantitatively detected by fluorescent signals. These methods are readily adaptable to a multitude of purposes from basic research to biomedical applications.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Max Planck Society, the Körber foundation (Körber Prize to PHS) and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (grant No. 0315447) for generous financial support. This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB-TR84 to PHS). We acknowledge careful and critical reviewing of the manuscript by Mr. Andreas Geissner, Ms. Anika Reinhardt, and Dr. Sebastian Götze. We are grateful to Dr. Sebastian Götze, Dr. You Yang, Dr. Xiaoquang Guo, and Dr. Shinya Hanashima for supplying the synthetic glycans used in this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomolecular Systems, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Am Mühlenberg 1, 14476, Potsdam, Germany

    Felix Broecker & Peter H. Seeberger

  2. Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry,, Freie Universität Berlin, Arnimallee 22, 14195, Berlin, Germany

    Felix Broecker & Peter H. Seeberger

Authors
  1. Felix Broecker
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  2. Peter H. Seeberger
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Correspondence to Peter H. Seeberger .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. DSO National Laboratories, Defence Medical and Environmental Resear, Singapore, Singapore

    Mahesh Uttamchandani

  2. Department of Chemistry Faculty of Science, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Shao Q. Yao

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Broecker, F., Seeberger, P.H. (2017). Synthetic Glycan Microarrays. In: Uttamchandani, M., Yao, S. (eds) Small Molecule Microarrays. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1518. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-6584-7_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-6584-7_15

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

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