Novel Click Coupling Chemistry to Explore Glycan Recognition

Area of Science:

• Carbohydrate Chemistry
• Bioconjugation
• Immunology

Background:

• Specific recognition of glycans by proteins is crucial for biological processes and immune responses.
• Existing methods for studying glycan-protein interactions can be limited in scope and throughput.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a versatile and efficient method for derivatizing glycans for broad applications in biological research.
• To create platforms for high-throughput screening of glycan-binding proteins and antibody responses.

Main Methods:

• Developed a novel linker (MTZ) for bioorthogonal click chemistry-based glycan derivatization.
• Created multiplex arrays using MTZ-glycans conjugated to Luminex beads.
• Generated neoglycoproteins by coupling glycans to bovine serum albumin (BSA).

Main Results:

• Efficiently generated libraries of ABO-(H) blood group MTZ-glycans and neoglycoproteins.
• Successfully profiled antiglycan IgG, IgM, and IgA antibodies in human serum samples.
• Demonstrated the utility of neoglycoproteins in glycosyltransferase assays.

Conclusions:

• The MTZ linker and click chemistry approach provide a facile and efficient platform for exploring glycan-protein interactions.
• This technology expands the available tools for studying glycan recognition in biological and immunological contexts.
• The developed methods enable high-throughput analysis of glycan-specific antibody repertoires.