Protein-carbohydrate interaction. V. Further inhibition studies directed toward defining the stereochemical requirements of the reactive sites of concanavalin A.

Inhibition studies on the concanavalin A-dextran interaction have been extended using as inhibitors the members of the maltose-, isomaltose-, and methyl cy-isomaltoside series, amino and N-acetyl amino sugars, and a number of oligosaccharides containing more than one linkage type. The interaction of the plant protein at the terminal chain ends of the a-linked glucans and mannans has been essentially confirmed, and the different characteristic inhibition activities of the linkage types is discussed in terms of steric effects. A possible application of the inhibition technique towards structural analysis of carbohydrate molecules is suggested by the authors.