Boronate-Affinity Glycan-Oriented Surface Imprinting: A New Strategy to Mimic Lectins for the Recognition of an Intact Glycoprotein and Its Characteristic Fragments.

Lectins possess unique binding properties and are of particular value in molecular recognition. However, lectins suffer from several disadvantages, such as being hard to prepare and showing poor storage stability. Boronate-affinity glycan-oriented surface imprinting was developed as a new strategy for the preparation of lectin-like molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs). The prepared MIPs could specifically recognize an intact glycoprotein and its characteristic fragments, even within a complex sample matrix. Glycan-imprinted MIPs could thus prove to be powerful tools for important applications such as proteomics, glycomics, and diagnostics.