Development of lectin microarray, an advanced system for glycan profiling

Although it is extremely diff icult to analyze glycans, fortunately, glycan research has been active in Japan, and many analysis technologies and glycosidase essential for glycomic research were created in Japan. 1) On the other hand, at the beginning of the 21st century, it was thought that structural glycomics would be done well by “mass spectrometry.” While mass spectrometry is highly effective for detailed structural analysis, the disadvantage is that it is very difficult to handle biological samples with this technique. On this point, the glycan profiling technology, which is the subject of this paper, has the possibility of overcoming some of the disadvantages of mass spectrometry. Described in a few words, glycan profiling is to obtain structural characteristics of glycans quickly and easily, and although precise structural identification may not be possible, major characteristics (type of glycan, presence of epitope, 2) degree of branching, degree of glycosylation, etc.), as well as differences or similarities between the compared samples can be shown.