Biomedical aspects of lectins.

Studies on lectins are having an increasing impact on medicine, by providing new tools for diagnosis, helping to solve clinical problems, and giving new insights into pathological processes (Lis & Sharon, 1986a, b; Sharon & Lis, 1988). Two early discoveries: that certain lectins are bloodgroup specific while others are mitogenic, have led to their widespread use for blood typing, for assessing the immunocompetence of patients and for karyotyping. Another early finding, that lectins preferentially agglutinate malignant cells, has led to numerous attempts to use these proteins for cancer diagnosis.