Ulex europaeus agglutinin (UEA I) is affinity-purified from gorse seeds and separated from crude extract using affinity chromatography. Composed of two subunits, this glycoprotein has no mitogenic activity and primarily agglutinates type O erythrocytes, with lesser activity toward A2 erythrocytes. UEA I exhibits strong reactivity with α(1,2)-linked fucose residues but minimal or no binding to α(1,3) or α(1,6)-linked fucose. It cannot bind internal fucose structures, and the presence of an internal α(1,3)-linked fucose on H type 2 oligosaccharides reduces lectin affinity for this blood group antigen by three-fold. UEA I has been utilized as a marker for vascular endothelium and to identify endothelial cells in benign vascular lesions more specifically than Factor VII-related antigen antibodies. Additionally, UEA I-coated magnetic beads are employed to isolate endothelial cells associated with micro-vessels for cell culture and to differentiate between angiosarcomas and epithelial tumors.

Recommended Usage: Recommended dilutions of 0.5 - 10 μg/ml in 20 mM Tris-HCl pH 7.5, 50 mM NaCl, 1 mM CaCl2, 0.5 mM MnCl2. Less than 4 mg/ml will agglutinate human type O erythrocytes. Less than 0.5 mg/ml will agglutinate neuraminidase treated erythrocytes.

Storage Instruction: To prevent degradation and avoid repeated freeze-thaw cycles, aliquot your product into small, single-use volumes and store them at -20°C

Application

Immunohistochemistry, Immunocytochemistry, Immunofluorescence, Cancer Biomarker, Blotting, ELISA, Cell typing, Glycobiology.

References

1. Allen HJ, Johnson EA. A simple procedure for the isolation of L-fucose-binding lectins from Ulex europaeus and Lotus tetragonolobus. Carbohydr Res. 1977 Oct;58(2):253-65.
2. Loris R, De Greve H, Dao-Thi MH, Messens J, Imberty A, Wyns L. Structural basis of carbohydrate recognition by lectin II from Ulex europaeus, a protein with a promiscuous carbohydrate-binding site. J Mol Biol. 2000 Aug 25;301(4):987-1002.