Lentil lectin-unrelated reactivity of Aleuria aurantia lectin in affinity electrophoresis of alpha-fetoprotein

Abstract

The presence of Aleuria aurantia lectin (AAL)-reactive alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) was demonstrated in human sera by affinity electrophoresis. Although AAL has been shown to react strongly with glycoproteins having fucosylated core N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc), AFP reacting with lentil lectin-A, which has a similar sugar chain specificity, did not necessarily show affinity for AAL. Fucosylated outer chain GlcNAc was suggested as an alternative oligosaccharide structure of AFP having affinity for AAL.