Application of lectin microarray to crude samples: differential glycan profiling of lec mutants.

We recently developed a novel system for lectin microarray based on the evanescent-field fluorescence-detection principle, by which even weak lectin-oligosaccharide interactions are detectable without a washing procedure. For its practical application, cell glycan analysis was performed for Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells and their glycan profile was compared with those of their glycosylation-defective Lec mutants. Each of the cell surface extracts gave a significantly different profile from that of the parental CHO cells in a manner reflecting denoted biosynthetic features. Hence, the developed lectin microarray system is considered to be fully applicable for differential glycan profiling of crude samples.