Characterization of capsular polysaccharides and their glycoconjugates by hydrodynamic methods

Hydrodynamic methods are relevant for the characterization of carbohydrates such as capsular bacterial polysaccharides or glycoconjugates in solution. This chapter focuses on the following hydrodynamic methods: sedimentation velocity analytical ultracentrifugation (SV AUC), dynamic light scattering (DLS), sedimentation equilibrium analytical ultracentrifugation (SE AUC), size exclusion chromatography coupled to multi-angle light scattering (SEC-MALS), and capillary viscometry—intrinsic viscosity measurement. The chapter highlights the general principle of these five methods, describes experimental details, and specifies advances in the last years.