To perform an evaluation of the usefulness of lectin microarray approach for the identification of characteristic glycan profilings related to different aggressive and metastatic potentials between liver cell lines. At first, CHO and its glycosyltransferase-defective mutants Lec1 were chose to validate the feasibility of the lectin microarray system, then the difference of the glycan profiling on cell surface of L02 (normal control), Hep3B (no metastasis) and HCCLM3 (high metastatic potential) cell lines was characterized by lectin microarray. Comparing with L02, Hep3B showed increased affinity for PHA-L, ConA, AAL, MPL and decreased signals for WGA. HCCLM3 presented elevated signals for LCA, MAL-Ⅰ, MAL-Ⅱ, WGA, PHA-E and decreased signals for RCA-I with contrast to Hep3B. The results of fluoresceinated lectin staining of cells with biotinylated LCA, WGA, PHA-E and RCA-I support some observation from array. Lectin microarray was an applicable and useful tool in identifying the glycan profiling changes that accompany the biological processes.