Wheat-germ agglutinin sialic acid binding

Truncated structures of sialic acids show the moieties required for binding to various sialic acid-specific lectins. LFA is Limaxfiavus agglutinin [231] and WGA is wheat germ agglutinin [5]. The binding importance of sialic acid C-4 and C-7 hydroxyls for MAG has not yet been determined. R indicates that LFA tolerates a variety of equatorial bulky substituents on the C-5 W-acyl group of sialic acids... 

Fig. 14 Glycoprofiling of placental and glycoengineered hCG based on the binding of specific lectins. Lectin specific for ot2,3/6-bound sialic acid (black bars SNA, Sambucus nigra agglutinin), complex glycans (grey bars ConA, concanavalin A), a2,3-bound sialic acid (white bars WGA, wheat germ agglutinin) and core-fucosylated glycans (hatched...

Plate 21 A fluorescent molecular probe. Fixed and permeabilized osteosarcoma cells were simultaneously stained with the fluorescent lectins, Alexa 488 concanavalin A (Con A) and Alexa 594 wheat germ agglutinin (WGA). Con A selectively binds a-mannopyranosyl and a-glucopyranosyl residues, whereas WGA selectively binds sialic acid counterstained with blue-fluorescent Hoechst 33342 nucleic acid stain. See Fluorescent Molecular Probes, Inc. 

---