TOOLS TO CLEAVE GLYCOPROTEINS

There are a variety of enzymes available that are able to cleave glyco proteins, including enzymes that are specific for carbohydrate-carbohy drate linkages, carbohydrate-protein bonds and the peptide backbone. S uch enzymes are useful for determining the sites of glycosylation with in proteins, and for releasing glycan structures for subsequent carboh ydrate analysis. One protease has been identified as being specific fo r O-sialoglycoproteins and can be used to identify such molecules and their epitope regions. The lack of cytotoxicity and the narrow specifi city of this enzyme provides an improved method for the immunomagnetic selection of human bone-marrow stem-cells.