The Difference of Lectin Recovery by Sugar-Bound Resin

Lectins are sugar binding proteins and glycoproteins, and are widely distributed from bacteria to humans. Lectins are easily detected by agglutination of erythrocytes, known as hemagglutination. Stillmark first reported in his doctoral thesis that the extract from beans of the castor tree, Ricinus communis, contains lectin by the method of hemagglutination (Stillmark, 1888). Since each lectin binds to a specific kind of sugar, and sugar chains on the cell surface differ according to cell type and animals species, lectins can distinguish types of cells (Landsteiner & Raubitschek, 1907). Moreover, the lectin of red kidney beans has mitogenic activity, in which leucocytes are transformed into undifferentiated cells and initiate mitosis (Nowell, 1960). Thus, the lectins not only recognize specific cell types, but also affect cell physiology.