Carbohydrate analysis prepares to enter the "omics" era

In this issue, Houseman and Mrksich describe a carbohydrate array preparation method that can be used to analyze protein-carbohydrate interactions and to characterize the substrate specificity of a carbohydrate-modifying enzyme. Carbohydrate chips were prepared by a novel procedure that allows the covalent attachment of carbohydrate-diene conjugates to a specially engineered monolayer surface. The surface presents a precisely controllable ratio of reactive benzoquinone and inert ethylene glycol groups. Nonspecific adsorption of proteins to the surface is extremely low, and the surface is compatible with popular detection techniques. The immobilization technique was demonstrated to be compatible with recently developed automated solid phase carbohydrate synthesis methods, paving the way for the development of highly complex carbohydrate arrays.