Surface characterization of carbohydrate microarrays

Langmuir. 2010 Nov 16;26(22):17143-55. doi: 10.1021/la1029933. Epub 2010 Oct 18.

Abstract

Carbohydrate microarrays are essential tools to determine the biological function of glycans. Here, we analyze a glycan array by time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) to gain a better understanding of the physicochemical properties of the individual spots and to improve carbohydrate microarray quality. The carbohydrate microarray is prepared by piezo printing of thiol-terminated sugars onto a maleimide functionalized glass slide. The hyperspectral ToF-SIMS imaging data are analyzed by multivariate curve resolution (MCR) to discern secondary ions from regions of the array containing saccharide, linker, salts from the printing buffer, and the background linker chemistry. Analysis of secondary ions from the linker common to all of the sugar molecules employed reveals a relatively uniform distribution of the sugars within the spots formed from solutions with saccharide concentration of 0.4 mM and less, whereas a doughnut shape is often formed at higher-concentration solutions. A detailed analysis of individual spots reveals that in the larger spots the phosphate buffered saline (PBS) salts are heterogeneously distributed, apparently resulting in saccharide concentrated at the rim of the spots. A model of spot formation from the evaporating sessile drop is proposed to explain these observations. Saccharide spot diameters increase with saccharide concentration due to a reduction in surface tension of the saccharide solution compared to PBS. The multivariate analytical partial least squares (PLS) technique identifies ions from the sugars that in the complex ToF-SIMS spectra correlate with the binding of galectin proteins.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Chemical Phenomena
  • Galectins / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Mass Spectrometry
  • Microarray Analysis / methods*
  • Multivariate Analysis
  • Polysaccharides / analysis*
  • Polysaccharides / chemistry
  • Polysaccharides / metabolism
  • Surface Properties

Substances

  • Galectins
  • Polysaccharides