Glycoform-Specific Visualization in Immunohistochemistry by "Lectin Inhibition"

Hiromi Ito1, Kyoka Hoshi1, Yasuhiro Hashimoto2

  • 1Department of Biochemistry, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan.

Antibodies are useful for localizing glycoprotein antigens in histochemistry, but they do not differentiate glycoforms in tissue sections because conventional antibodies recognize only protein epitopes rather than glycans. Glycan epitopes are recognized by lectins, which are found, occasionally, to inhibit antigen-antibody reaction in a glycoform-specific manner (lectin inhibition). Here we describe the application of lectin inhibition to immunohistochemistry for visualizing a glycoform in a tissue section.