Targeting label free carbohydrate–protein interactions for biosensor design

Abstract

A growing body of evidence indicates that multivalent carbohydrate–protein interactions regulate essential cellular events, such as cell-proliferation, cell-adhesion and cell-migration. Moreover, recent data indicate that specific cell surface carbohydrates are biomarkers for certain inflammatory disorders, for pathogen infections, and for cancer cells, and play important roles in the research and development of drugs and vaccines. A variety of techniques were developed for the detection and evaluation of specific carbohydrate–protein interactions, many of which are based on label-free molecules. The review describes these methods with recent illustrative examples from the literature and discusses future applications in the field of biosensors aiming at developing point-of-care applications.