Dr. Wu obtained his Ph.D degree with W. Pigman, who is one of the pioneers in glycoproteins, at New York Medical College; and had his postdoctoral training at E.A. Kabat’s Lab for quantitative immunochemistry, Columbia University Medical Center, New York. He joined as a faculty position at Texas A&M University in 1982; promoted as a full professor at Chang-Gung University since 1989; and as Emeritus Professor after 2011. Dr, Wu published over 120 glycoprotein and polyvalent glycotopes related papers. He is the chief editor for three volumes of Molecular Immunology of COMPLEX Carbohydrates 1 to 3 in Adv. Exp. Med. Biol. 228, 451, 705 (Springer Publisher). His major interests are (i) Glycan purification and characterization; (ii) recognition factors of glycans; (iii) combining sites of lectins and antibodies. He received many Outstanding Research Awards from government agents in Taiwan and U.S.A
Abstract
Lectins, by combination of our established enzyme-linked lectin sorbent assay(ELLSA) and inhibition study, have been used as powerful tools in many glycoconjugate recognition researches. In this short review, four highlights are shared: There are (i) The recognition profiles of Gal/GalNAc specific lectins was updated and upgraded; (ii) Based on the cross specificities of applied lectins, a new classification system was introduced; (iii) Applications of lectins used to detect and to identify N-glycan and/or Tn glycotope in glycoconjugates were intergraded; (iv) The polyvalency of the glycotopes in glycans plays a critical role in glycan-lectin recognitions was established. This is an unexplored area of glycobiology and one of the most promised direction towards the coming age of glycoscience transformation.