The present invention relates to the field of carbohydrate crosslinked
glycoprotein crystals. Advantageously, such crosslinked glycoprotein
crystals display stability to harsh environmental conditions, while
maintaining the structural and functional integrity of the glycoprotein
backbone. According to one embodiment, this invention relates to methods
for concentrating proteins that have been modified by carbohydrates and
for releasing their activity at controlled rates. This invention also
provides methods for producing carbohydrate crosslinked glycoprotein
crystals and methods for using them in pharmaceutical formulations,
vaccines, immunotherapeutics, personal care compositions, including
cosmetics, veterinary pharmaceutical compositions and vaccines, foods,
feeds, diagnostics, cleaning agents, including detergents and
decontamination formulations. The physical and chemical characteristics
of carbohydrate crosslinked glycoprotein crystals render them
particularly useful as sorbents for separations, such as chiral
chromatography, or affinity chromatography--which are based on specific
interactions between the active binding site of the glycoprotein
component of the crystals and the substance or molecule of interest. Such
characteristics also render carbohydrate crosslinked glycoprotein
crystals useful as catalytic and binding components for the production of
biosensing devices.