Glycoproteins sulfhydryl-reactive

This same type of modification strategy also can be used to create highly reactive groups from functionalities of rather low reactivity. For instance, carbohydrate chains on glycoproteins can be modified with sodium periodate to transform their rather unreactive hydroxyl groups into highly reactive aldehydes. Similarly, cystine or disulfide residues in proteins can be selectively reduced to form active sulfhydryls, or 5 -phosphate groups of DNA can be transformed to yield modifiable amines. 

Figure 5.13 M2C2H can be used to crosslink a sulfhydryl-containing molecule with an aldehyde-containing compound. Glycoproteins may be conjugated using this reagent after treatment with sodium periodate to form reactive aldehyde groups.

---