Concanavalin A Lectin (Con A) is isolated from jack beans (Canavalia ensiformis) and purified by affinity chromatography. Con A is composed of identical subunits of 237 amino acid residues (MW: 26,000 without any cystine residues) and while above pH 7 it is predominantly tetrameric, at pH 4.5 - 5.6, Con A exists as a single dimer MW: 53,000. Con A binds with non-reducing α-D-glucose, α-D-mannose and α-methyl-D-glucopyranoside acts as a competitive inhibitor. It has a carbohydrate specificity towards α-mannose and α-glucose and elutes with MeαMan + MeαGlc. Con A does not have a blood group specificity. It exhibits mitogenic activity with lymphocytes and cancer cells which aggregate by Con A (normal white cells do not). Normal cells react to Con A after proteolytic treatment which suggests that trypsinization causes clustering of the reactive glycan residues on the membrane.

Cy3 can be used to visualize the binding pattern of Concanavalin A (Jackbean) lectin (Con A) in cellular imaging and flow cytometry. Cy3 is more photostable than many other fluorophores and can be detected with TRITC filter sets. It is often combined with green-fluorescent dyes for dual-labeling experiments.

Recommended Usage: Recommended dilutions of 0.5-10 µg in 0.5 M Sodium Phosphate Buffer pH 7.4. More than 10ug/ml may be required to give visible agglutination of neuraminidase treated human 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

Immunofluorescence, Immunohistochemistry, Immunocytochemistry, Cell Typing, Flow, Glycobiology.

References

1.Darmani H, Coakley WT. Contact patterns in concanavalin A agglutinated erythrocytes. Cell Biophys. 1991 Feb;18(1):1-13.
2.Olson MO, Liener IE. Some physical and chemical properties of concanavalin A, the phytohemagglutinin of the jack bean. Biochemistry. 1967 Jan;6(1):105-11.
3.McCubbin WD, Kay CM. Molecular weight studies on concanavalin A. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1971 Jul 2;44(1):101-9.