Generic placeholder image

Combinatorial Chemistry & High Throughput Screening

Editor-in-Chief

ISSN (Print): 1386-2073
ISSN (Online): 1875-5402

Lectin Microarrays: A Powerful Tool for Glycan-Based Biomarker Discovery

Author(s): Shu-Min Zhou, Li Cheng, Shu-Juan Guo, Heng Zhu and Sheng-Ce Tao

Volume 14, Issue 8, 2011

Page: [711 - 719] Pages: 9

DOI: 10.2174/138620711796504398

Price: $65

Open Access Journals Promotions 2
Abstract

Cell surfaces, especially mammalian cell surfaces, are heavily coated with complex poly- and oligosaccharides, and these glycans have been implicated in many functions, such as cell-to-cell communication, host-pathogen interactions and cell matrix interactions. Not surprisingly then, the aberrations of glycosylation are usually indicative of the onset of specific diseases, such as cancer. Therefore, glycans are expected to serve as important biomarkers for disease diagnosis and/or prognosis. Recent development of the lectin microarray technology has allowed researchers to profile the glycans in complex biological samples in a high throughput fashion. This relatively new tool is highly suitable for both live cell and cell lysate analyses and has the potential for rapid discovery of glycan-based biomarkers. In this review, we will focus on the basic concepts and the latest advances of lectin microarray technology. We will also emphasize the application of lectin microarrays for biomarker discovery, and then discuss the challenges faced by this technology and potential future directions. Based on the tremendous progress already achieved, it seems apparent that lectin microarrays will soon become an indispensible tool for glycosylation biomarker discovery.

Keywords: Glycans, glycomics, lectin microarray, live cell profiling, high throughput, Biomarker Discovery, Cell surfaces, cell lysate, metastasis, Leukocyte-adhesion deficiency type II, carbohydrate recognition domains, Immobilization


Rights & Permissions Print Cite
© 2024 Bentham Science Publishers | Privacy Policy