Aldonate coupling, a simple procedure for the preparation of carbohydrate-protein conjugates for studies of carbohydrate-binding proteins.

Aldonate coupling, a new, high-yield method for conjugation of reducing oligosaccharides to proteins is described. It involves oxidation of the oligosaccharides to their corresponding aldonic acids followed by coupling to amino functions of proteins by activation of carboxyl groups with a water-soluble carbodiimide derivative. The immunochemical properties of some of these synthetic glycoproteins were assessed using several plant agglutinins (lectins) as well as antibodies raised to the conjugates. The scope and limitation of the method are discussed.