Agglutination study of poly(allyl-alpha-D-glucopyranose/styrene) latex particles in the presence of Concanavalin A

Latex agglutination of the glucose-modified latex, which were synthesized by emulsion copolymerization of allyl-modified glucose and styrene monomers by specific binding interactions between Concanavalin A (Con A) and allyl-alpha-d-glucopyranose, were investigated. The surface of the glucose-modified latex was characterized by dye-partition method and the number of glucose was 1517 per latex particle. The average particle size and the polydispersity index of the latex were 78.3 and 1.005, respectively. Time-evolution adsorption behavior of various concentrations of the Con A and the consequent latex agglutination were studied by UV spectrophotometer at 540 nm and zeta-potential analyzer at the fixed latex concentration of 0.02 wt%. Specific binding between Con A and allyl-alpha-D-glucopyranose leaded the latex particles to coagulate by decreasing the electrostatic repulsion between the particles and mobility.