These natural or synthetic (see carbohydrate synthesis) glycans are then incubated with any glycan-binding protein such as lectins, cell surface receptors or possibly a whole organism such as a virus.
Certain types of glycan microarrays can even be re-used for multiple samples using a method called Microwave Assisted Wet-Erase.
For example, photo-generated glycan arrays have been used to characterize the immunogenic properties of a tetrasaccharide found on the surface of anthrax spores.
[8] Glycan arrays are possibly combined with other techniques such as Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) to refine the characterisation of glycan-binding.
For example, this combination led to demonstrate the calcium-dependent heparin binding of Annexin A1 that is involved in several biological processes including inflammation, apoptosis and membrane trafficking.