Lectins carbohydrate association

Lectin-Carbohydrate Association as Studied by Equilibrium Dialysis... 

E. Garcia-Hernandez, R. A. Zubillaga, A. Rojo-Dominguez, A. Rodriguez-Romero, and A. Hernandez-Arana, New insights into the molecular basis of lectin-carbohydrate interactions A calorimetric and structural study of the association of hevein to oligomers of JV-acetylglu-cosamine. Proteins, 29 (1997) 467 77. 

The association constants of a number of lectin-carbohydrate complexes have been determined by affinity electrophoresis and are pH-dependent. ... 

While the mechanisms of formation of noncovalent crosslinked lattices of lectins with multivalent carbohydrates and glycoproteins have been well investigated,15-17 the mechanisms associated with the enhanced affinities of lectins binding to multivalent carbohydrates and glycoproteins have been less well investigated until recently.18,19... 

T. K. Dam, R. Roy, D. Page, and C. F. Brewer, Negative cooperativity associated with binding of multivalent carbohydrates to lectins. Thermodynamic analysis of the multivalency effect Biochemistry, 41 (2002) 1351-1358. 

The recognition is the binding of a carbohydrate by a specific receptor, which is usually part of a protein (enzyme, immunoglobuUn, lectin). The process is due to the sum of weak interactions (van der Waals-London, hydrogen bonds) that may results in high association constants. 

The carbohydrate-binding sites of WGA are probably situated at the surface of the protein molecule. The pH dependences of association constants for lectin-chitotriose binding indicate that an ionizable group, pK = 3.9, is probably involved in complex-formation.494,504 This observation is especially noteworthy, inasmuch as protein carboxyl... 

---