Multiplex profiling of glycoproteins using a novel bead‐based lectin array

Lectin array is becoming important in profiling targeted glycan/glycoprotein, but weak interaction between lectin and glycan causes low sensitivity of the approach. This study aims to develop a bead‐based lectin array for improving the sensitivity of glycosylation profiling. Lectins are chemically coupled to fluorescent dye coated microbeads, and glycan‐lectin recognition is carried out three dimensionally. The performance of this platform was evaluated, and the LOD of lectin Ricinus communis agglutinin 120 (RCA120) was 50 pg/mL (1 pM) of asialofetuin, providing the bead‐based lectin microarray with the highest sensitivity among the reported lectin microarrays. Furthermore, multiplexed assay was performed, which allowed the simultaneous detection of multiple carbohydrate epitopes in a single reaction vessel. The glycosylation patterns of hepatocellular carcinoma associated immunoglobulin G were analyzed, and increased (α‐1,6) core fucosylation and (α‐2,6) sialylation patterns were observed, which may provide significant clinical evidence for disease diagnosis.