An overview on the diversity of 39 lectins from the phylum Porifera is presented, including 38 lectins, which were identified from the class of demosponges, and one lectin from the class of hexactinellida. Their purification from crude extracts was mainly performed by using affinity chromatography and gel filtration techniques. Other protocols were also developed in order to collect and study s...

Plant lectins have attracted much attention for biomedical applications including targeted drug delivery system and therapy against tumors and microbial infections. The main problem of using lectins as a biomedical tool is a batch-to-batch variation in isoforms content. The production of lectins using recombination tools has the advantage of obtaining high amounts of proteins with more precise ...

A comparative study of the lectins from the families Amaryllidaceae and Alliaceae reveals many common features: all bind D-mannose exclusively and have similar molecular structures and amino acid compositions. All these lectins contain subunits of M, 11500-14000 which are not linked by disulphide bonds and occur as dimers (in Allium sativum, A. vineale, A. ursinum, A. moly, Narcissus pseudonarc...

As letters form the vocabulary of a language, biochemical 'symbols' (the building blocks oligo- and polymers) make writing molecular messages possible. Compared to nucleotides amino acids, sugars have chemical properties that facilitate reach an unsurpassed level oligomer diversity. These glycans are part ubiquitous cellular glycoconjugates. Cyto- histochemically, glycans' structural complexity...

introduction: studies have shown that opiates cause disorders in fertilization and accessory reproductive glands in animals. on the other hand studies have shown important role of glycoconjugates in sperm epididymal maturation. lectins can detect glycoconjugates with specific terminal glucose molecules. therefore this study was conducted to assess the possible effects of opiates on these import...

Lectins play important roles in crustacean innate immunity through recognition of foreign pathogens. In this study, 20 lectins including C-type lectins [dual-carbohydrate recognition domain (CRD) type and single-CRD type], L-type lectin, and lectin with low-density lipoprotein class A (LDLa) domain were identified from the freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii. The tissue distribution and ...

Lectins are carbohydrate binding proteins present in most plants, especially seeds and tubers like cereals, potatoes and beans. It is now well established that many lectins are toxic, inflammatory, resistant to cooking and digestive enzymes and present in much of our food and sometimes cause "food poisoning." The global pattern of varying prevalence of diseases such as coeliac disease, autoimmu...