Dextrans interaction with concanavalin

Without doubt, concanavalin A (Con A) is the most celebrated and has proven to be one of the most useful of the plant lectins. Its physical chemical properties and carbohydratebinding properties are well documented in previous reviews [3,8]. Suffice it to note that it was first isolated and crystallized by Sumner and Howell in 1936, who showed it to require metal ions for its activity [74]. By virtue of its interaction with branched a-D-glucans, it is readily prepared by affinity chromatography on crossed-linked dextran (Sephadex) [75, 76]. A homotetramer at pH 7 (subunit M, = 26 500 Da) of Con A has been sequenced [77] and its crystal structure determined both in its native form [38,39] and complexed with methyl a-D-mannopyranoside [40] and Man(al-3)[Man(al-6)]Man[49]. 

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