TCI offers carbohydrate-conjugated human serum albumin (HSA) which is manufactured using high-purity synthesized carbohydrates. Several sugar-conjugates are available, and it is also possible to manufacture the sugar-conjugates according to customer specifications. For more details on the products and contracts, please contact us.

Anti-Gb₃ monoclonal antibody satisfactorily reacts with HSA-Gb₃, but not with BSA conjugated to Gb₃ by reductive amination. Reductive amination eliminates the epitope by opening the pyranose ring at the reducing end. We offer closed-ring glycoconjugates via PEG linkers as useful tools for discovery and characterization of carbohydrate-binding substances.

Immunotherapy (cell transfer therapy)
Therapeutic antibodies and cancer vaccines are based on cancer cell recognition by immune cells, eventually collaborating to destroy cancer cells. In cell transfer therapy, immune cells are removed from the patient’s body, engineered to attack cancer cells, and then returned to the body. Research into the application of carbohydrate reagents is also increasing.

α-Galactosyl Ceramide (α-GalCer) [G0509] is an artificial glycolipid which has been developed based on the sphingolipid extracted from the sea sponge, Agelas mauritianus. Work conducted by Prof. Taniguchi demonstrated that α-GalCer forms a complex with the CD1d antigen present on cell surfaces. This complexing results in strong NKT (Natural Killer T) cell activation causing high levels of cytokine production. The NKT cells bare features of both of NK cells and T cells.

Since α-GalCer is related to immune functions, it is used in disease research on cancer, atopic dermatitis and asthma and also is used as an adjuvant for experiment and research. Moreover, a synthetic intermediate of α-GalCer is required in synthetic research of analogs containing different functional groups such as unsaturation and aromatic groups on the ceramide moiety which can increase biological activity of α-GalCer.