[11] Resialylated erythrocytes for assessment of the specificity of sialyloligosaccharide binding proteins

Sialyloligosaccharide binding proteins have been demonstrated to mediate a variety of biological processes. For example, viral attachment proteins of influenza viruses, paramyxoviruses, and polyoma virus allow adsorption of virus to host cells by binding to sialyloligosaccharides as receptor determinants. This chapter describes a simple method to study the binding specificity of multivalent sialyloligosaccharide binding proteins, which are capable of agglutination of, or adsorption to, erythrocytes. The application to the assessment of influenza virus receptor specificity is shown in an example. Influenza viruses are membrane-enveloped viruses that attach to cells by means of the major surface glycoprotein, the hemagglutinin. Specificity of Influenza Viruses for Sialyloligosaccharide Receptor Determinants is particularly good for detecting differences in the specificity of the viral hemagglutinins for their sialyloligosaccharide receptor determinants. The chapter describes preparation of resialylated erythrocytes such as Sialyltransferases, buffers, and other materials.