Multiplex profiling of glycoproteins using a novel bead-based lectin array

Lectin array is becoming important in profiling targeted glycan/glycoprotein, but weak interaction between lectin and glycan causes low sensitivity of the approach. This study aims to develop a bead-based lectin array for improving the sensitivity of glycosylation profiling. Lectins are chemically coupled to fluorescent dye coated microbeads, and glycan-lectin recognition is carried out three dimensionally. The performance of this platform was evaluated, and the LOD of lectin Ricinus communis agglutinin 120 (RCA120) was 50 pg/mL (1 pM) of asialofetuin, providing the bead-based lectin microarray with the highest sensitivity among the reported lectin microarrays. Furthermore, multiplexed assay was performed, which allowed the simultaneous detection of multiple carbohydrate epitopes in a single reaction vessel. The glycosylation patterns of hepatocellular carcinoma associated immunoglobulin G were analyzed, and increased (-1,6) core fucosylation and (-2,6) sialylation patterns were observed, which may provide significant clinical evidence for disease diagnosis.