Printed Glycan Array: A Sensitive Technique for the Analysis of the Repertoire of Circulating Anti-carbohydrate Antibodies in Small Animals

The repertoire of circulating anti-carbohydrate antibodies of a given individual is often associated with its immunological status. Not only the individual immune condition determines the success in combating internal and external potential threat signals, but also the existence of a particular pattern of circulating anti-glycan antibodies (and their serological level variation) could be a significant marker of the onset and progression of certain pathological conditions. Here, we describe a Printed Glycan Array (PGA)-based methodology that offers the opportunity to measure hundreds of glycan targets with very high sensitivity; using a minimal amount of sample, which is a common restriction present when small animals (rats, mice, hamster, etc.) are used as models to address aspects of human diseases. As a representative example of this approach, we show the results obtained from the analysis of the repertoire of natural anti-glycan antibodies in BALB/c mice. We demonstrate that each BALB/c mouse involved in the study, despite being genetically identical and maintained under the same conditions, develops a particular pattern of natural anti-carbohydrate antibodies. This work claims to expand the use of PGA technology to investigate repertoire (specificities) and the levels of circulating anti-carbohydrates antibodies, both in health and during any pathological condition.