CatchAll Glycan Array

Description

Glycans are carbohydrate-based polymers usually found on proteins and lipids on the eukaryotic cell surface. They help maintain normal cellular homeostasis and play essential roles in cell growth and survival. For example, glycans attached to the cell surface provide physical protective barriers, whereas those found in the intracellular matrix facilitate protein folding, sorting, and secretion. Glycans are also crucial for cell communication, acting as ligands for cell-to-cell interactions. For example, glycans are ligands of many immune-modulating receptors, and specific ligations dictate either enhancing or suppressive immune responses. Glycans also provide scaffolds for invading pathogens to enter the cell for infection. Glycans can be found on the surface of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other microorganisms. Molecular mimicry of host glycans helps pathogens evade immune surveillance.

The properties and functions of the glycans are highly dependent on the monosaccharide unit, their combination, bonding position, and the type of branching. An enormous diversity of glycan structures exist, and many of these structures still need to be characterized. As a result, there has been an increasing interest in understanding the structural and functional basis of these complex carbohydrate molecules.

ZBiotech has developed a robust microarray platform that allows researchers to explore the interactions between 166 structurally – defined glycans and biological samples, such as proteins, antibodies, cells, cell lysate, serum, vesicles, bacteria, or viral particles. These glycans represent a diverse collection of carbohydrate structures. These structures range from mammalian oligosaccharides, N-glycans, O-glycans, glycosphingolipid glycans, blood group antigen glycans, glycosaminoglycans, sialylated glycans to human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs). Each array contains 8 identical subarrays, enabling the simultaneous analysis of multiple samples. The CatchAll glycan array provides high-throughput and reliable glycan-binding information with a simple assay format that only requires a small sample volume. Results can be obtained in only a few hours, making investigating glycan binding easy and efficient. The CatchAll array can be customized to meet individual client needs. Assay services are available upon request.