Oligosaccharide microarrays to map interactions of carbohydrates in biological systems.

Carbohydrate microarrays are becoming a standard tool for glycobiologists to screen large numbers of sugars and elucidate the role of carbohydrates in biological systems. This article describes detailed methods to prepare and use microarrays containing synthetic oligosaccharides as well as a summary of the biological information that can be obtained by using this technology. These methods use different linking chemistries to immobilize a wide range of synthetic oligosaccharides onto glass slides through the formation of a covalent bond. Therefore, this technology enables the elaborate study of a great variety of carbohydrate interactions.