Application

Use of dextrans as long and hydrophilic spacer arms improves the performance of immobilized proteins acting on macromolecules.

General description

Dextrans are polysaccharides with molecular weights ≥1,000 Dalton, with a linear backbone of α-linked D-glucopyranosyl repeating units. Dextrans are found as bacterial extracellular polysaccharides. They are synthesized from sucrose by Leuconostoc mesenteroides and Lactobacillus brevis. Bacteria employ dextran in biofilm formation or as a protective coating to evade host phagocytes in the case of pathogenic bacteria.Dextran from Leuconostoc mesenteroides (Mw: 12,000) may be used as an analytical standard to calibrate the column for gel permeation chromatography (GPC).