LuCella Biosciences answers the demand of researchers for carbohydrate-based molecules. A range of monosaccharide building blocks are available to the customer to construct their desired product-like lining up train cars. LuCella can then quickly synthesize them through a proprietary automation strategy. In addition, LuCella can make new building blocks to include in the oligosaccharide chains for customers who require special needs and also to diversify the newly made oligosaccharides for specific assay or imaging needs. Carbohydrates display enormous functional and structural diversity; sugars are found in antitumor and antibiotic compounds, serve as a kind of recognition element or "glue" between cells and proteins, and regulate a range of biological functions in processes from diabetes to cancer to pathogen infection. The comparative dearth of detailed information about carbohydrates derives in part from the lack of powerful tools to study this class of molecules. LuCella has created a method for the synthesis and arraying of complex carbohydrate molecules in a predictable automated manner that dramatically reduces the cost of custom oligosaccharide synthesis. This technology serves as the basis for a range of custom-order tools to accelerate research and development in glycobiology.
