Preparation of lectin-vicilin nanoparticle conjugates using the carbodiimide coupling technique

This work describes the preparation and the in vitro activity of conjugates formed by Ulex europaeus lectin (UE lectin) and vicilin (storage protein from Pisum sativum) nanoparticles. The lectin was fixed by coupling its amino groups to carbodiimide-activated carboxylic groups on the vicilin nanoparticles. The influence of the carbodiimide concentration and the reaction time was studied. Typically, the amount of bound lectin was calculated to be about 30 mu g lectin/mg nanoparticles, which corresponded to a lectin coupling efficiency of about 21%. Furthermore, the activity and the specificity of these conjugates was tested with bovine submaxillary gland mucin (BSM), When the experiences were carried out in the absence of L-fucose (specific sugar for UE lectin), the UE lectin-vicilin nanoparticle conjugates showed three times more interaction with mucin than the control (vicilin nanoparticles). Moreover, the specificity of the lectin was maintained after coupling to vicilin nanoparticles because the presence of L-fucose inhibited the interactions between conjugates and mucin.