Carbohydrate microarrays as tools in HIV glycobiology

Progress in carbohydrate microarray technology has positioned the glycochip among the expanding set of biophysical tools available to researchers. Synthetically-derived glycochips unite established microarray techniques with the versatility and structural precision of synthetic carbohydrate chemistry. A comprehensive demonstration of carbohydrate microarrays is illustrated by the chip-based study of protein/carbohydrate and protein/glycoprotein interactions as they relate to HIV glycobiology. Composed of a series of high-mannose oligosaccharides, carbohydrate microarrays were prepared utilizing a covalent linking strategy to immobilize synthetically-defined glycans in a uniform orientation. In concert with a simple glycoprotein array, these microarrays were used to establish the individual and competitive binding profiles of five gp120 binding proteins--DC-SIGN, CD4, 2G12 cyanovirin-N, and scytovirin--and established the carbohydrate structural requirements for these interactions.