Vector Laboratories, the pioneer of innovative proteomic and glycomic solutions, today announced the launch of its novel product Glysite Scout Glycan Screening Kits.
These immunofluorescence (IF) kits are fully integrated for the detection of glycan expression in tissue sections and will support the ability to profile and characterise complex glycans in biological systems.
From tumour progression to viral capture to drug discovery, scientists are exploring the role of glycan modifications in normal and disease states. Vector Laboratories’ Glysite Scout Glycan Screening Kits will enable researchers to begin to understand the relevance of glycomics in their samples for association with post-translational protein modifications and biomarkers of disease.
Vector Laboratories’ curated lectin selection allows researchers to detect the presence or absence of all major surface glycan motifs in a sample, offering insight into disease progression, determining the effect of a treatment or stimulus, or allowing for better characterisation of cell and tissue types.
“Glycan research is continuing to grow in popularity, with more and more scientists expressing interest in exploring glycobiology because of the potential impact it has on critical fields of disease study such as oncology,” says CEO of Vector Laboratories Lisa V Sellers, PhD.
“But we’re finding that researchers need help getting started, so it’s our mission to not only provide a reliable product, but to also offer our customers unmatched technical expertise and guidance to allow them to continue to move science forward.”
Glycans are known to participate in numerous fundamental biological processes and dysregulation has been impacted in many disease states. For example the glycome can influence cancer progression in numerous ways, which generates various biomarkers that can be used for cancer detection.
Research exploring how cancer alters glycosylation mechanisms has the added benefit of highlighting potential markers that can be targeted to correct cancer-induced modifications.
“Glycobiology is a complex field with a lot of untapped potential,” says Pamela James, PhD, Vice President, Product at Vector Laboratories.
“As a scientific community, we have not breached the surface of what is possible in this area of study, but that’s what makes this exciting. Throughout more than 45 years of experience, we’ve leveraged our manufacturing excellence to produce products that will help propel our customers and the industry forward.”
Vector Laboratories was the first company to commercialize avidin-biotin enzyme complex kits for immunohistochemistry and antifade mounting media for immunofluorescence. It has since introduced more than 600 reliable reagents and kits through four decades of leadership in labelling and detection technologies.