Hydrazides with glycans

In some cases, the ability to modify glycans at the reducing end without reduction preserves the carbohydrate s native structure sufficiently to allow interactions with proteins that would otherwise not interact if the bond were reduced. Therefore, depending on the ultimate use of the biotinylated carbohydrate, using a hydrazide mediated conjugation process can have advantages over the use of amine-biotin compounds. 

The following protocol describes a method for the periodate oxidation of a glycoprotein followed by biotinylation of the resultant aldehydes using hydrazide-PEG4-biotin. Chapter 1, Section 4.6 describes an alternative protocol for the modification of glycans at their reducing ends with hydrazide compounds. 

Figures Selective protein modification using a keto amino acid, p-acetyl-L-phenylalanine. (a) Labeling of fluorescein hydrazide to the Z domain protein. Only the mutant protein containing p-acetyl-L-phenylalanine was labeled and became fluorescent, (b) A general method for preparing glycoprotein mimetics with defined glycan structure.

Commercially available kits (e.g., Roche Glycan Quantitation Kit) are based on the oxidation of the carbohydrates with periodic acid and subsequent coupling of the formed aldehyde with a hydrazide (e.g., digoxigenin hydrazide). The formed conjugate is estimated immunochemically by ELISA. 

---