Using Lab in a Trench technologies, we have developed a novel method to glycoprofile single cells by sequential probing with fluorescently labelled lectins. Current microscopic methods to glycoprofile cells are limited by the inability to probe the glycan structures with more than one lectin, as steric hindrance can interfere with lectin binding. Flow cytometry is similiarly limited, and methods such as NMR and Mass Spectrometry do not have the possibility to probe at the level of the individual cell.
Our system traps the cells in a shear-free environment, allowing us to exchange fluids about the cell to probe with various lectins. By adding the appropriate free sugars to the fluid, the bound lectin can be eluted, and the cells probed with a lectin with another specificity. This ability to probe individual cells and achieve a complete glycoprofile through lectin staining has not been reported before.