A new kind of carbohydrate array, its use for profiling antiglycan antibodies, and the discovery of a novel human cellulose-binding antibody.

In this study, we use a novel glycan array to analyze the glycan-binding antibody repertoire in a pool of affinity-purified IgG collected from a healthy human population. The glycan array used is based on mono- and oligosaccharides covalently linked to the surface via a long linker at their reducing ends. They are thus presented to the medium with a well-defined orientation and are accessible for specific binding by glycan-binding proteins, such as antibodies and lectins. A novel anticellulose antibody was detected that binds specifically to beta4-linked saccharides with a preference for glucopyranose over galactopyranose residues. We also found previously known antiglycan antibodies against mono- and oligosaccharides that are constituents of commonly occurring bacterial polysaccharides. We propose that this array can facilitate high-throughput screening of glycan-binding proteins and the search for biomarkers for personalized medicine.