lectins

Lectins

Functional analysis of sugar chains

Lectins are proteins which can recognise and bind to specific glycan structures displayed on biomolecules. More than 50% of proteins are glycosylated, meaning lectins have a large role in nature: by interacting with glycans and glycosylated biomolecules, they can mediate a broad range of biological processes.

The ability of lectins to bind to specific glycan structures in situ makes them valuable tools that enable simple and fast detection and analysis of intact glycosylated biomolecules. Traditional glycoanalytical methods are often highly complex, labour intensive, and time consuming.