Surface-enhanced Raman scattering spectroscopy study of carbohydrate chains in α1-acid glycoprotein and pseudoglycoproteins

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy was used to study the structure of carbohydrate chains in glycosylated forms of alpha(1)-acid glycoprotein (AGP) and in pseudoglycoproteins obtained by transferring the carbohydrate chains of AGP to a polyacrylamide carrier. It was found that AGP-D glycoform and pseudoglycoproteins containing three or more glycans per molecule, which possess high immunomodulating activity, have a specific spatial organization of carbohydrate chains. This organization is maintained by the interaction of neighboring glycans with each other and does not depend on the nature of the carrier (whether it is polypeptide or polyacrylamide).