'Shotgun' Method Allows Scientists to Dissect Cells' Sugar Coatings

Researchers at Emory University School of Medicine have adapted gene chip microarray technology to the study of glycans, with an approach they call "shotgun glycomics." The Emory team has developed a new chemical method for attaching a fluorescent dye to glycans purified from cells. The individual glycans are separated into tiny spots fixed to glass slides. "These slides separate and display all the glycans in the cell, so that we can test what sticks to them," says senior author David Smith, PhD, professor of biochemistry and director of the Glycomics Center at Emory University School of Medicine and ACTSI investigator. Read more...