Lectins are proteins that bind to carbohydrates.
The very nature of their binding to carbohydrates makes lectins, once they have been well-characterized, extremely useful tools for examining structural changes in glycosylation and their functional consequences in human diseases. It is divided into sections dealing with lectin histochemistry and cytochemistry, the use of lectins for structural analysis of oligosaccharide chains and detection of lectins in altered patterns of glycosylation in the circulation. Each chapter is well-presented with clear diagrams, good illustrations and a list of tips and technology which workers in the field will find useful. This book will help researchers working in cell biology, pathology and biochemistry since it covers the basics of light microscopy through to many applications in these fields. The book brings together a comprehensive collection of methods for using lectins in biomedical research.