Multiplexed antibody arrays for the discovery and validation of glycosylated protein biomarkers

Protein glycosylation, the enzymatic linkage of mono- and poly-saccharides to proteins, is a critical determinant of protein function; however, there is a lack of tools for studying the glycosylation of specific proteins in complex samples. A new type of antibody-lectin sandwich assay enables the measurement of the glycosylation of specific proteins that have been captured from complex samples using antibody arrays combined with lectin-based detection probes. Antibody-lectin sandwich arrays have the potential to expand our understanding of the role of glycans and protein glycosylation in disease and to identify and investigate new biomarkers for early detection, disease prognosis and therapeutic response prediction. While antibody-lectin sandwich arrays yield less-detailed structural information regarding protein glycosylation than other available methods, they do provide a simple and reproducible method for investigating changes in protein abundance and glycosylation of multiple proteins and can be easily applied to large or small sample sets. By profiling protein and glycan variations, new disease-associated glycan alterations can be identified and validated for use as biomarkers.