Sialic acid is believed to play a critical role in the survival of blood platelets in circulation. Wheat germ agglutinin, which shows specificity for sialic acid, N-acetylglucosamine, and N-acetylgalactosamine, strongly activates platelets. The role of sialic acid in platelet activation by this lectin was studied utilizing neuraminidase-treated platelets and the succinylated lectin that has bee...

The inhibition of protein synthesis in Chinese hamster V79 cells by diphtheria toxin is antagonized by the lectins concanavalin A, succinylated concanavalin A, and wheat germ agglutinin but not by Proteus vulgaris phytohemagglutinin or abrus agglutinin. The effects of concanavalin A and wheat germ agglutinin are reversed by methyl alpha-mannoside and N-acetylglucosamine, respectively. The inhib...

The olfactory and respiratory mucosae of the Corriedale sheep were examined using lectin histochemistry in order to clarify the histochemical and glycohistochemical differences between these two tissues. The olfactory epithelium was stained with 13 lectins out of 21 lectins examined, while the respiratory epithelium was positive to 16 lectins. The free border of both of the olfactory and respir...

The hexosamine biosynthesis pathway (HBP) serves as a nutrient sensor and has been implicated in the development of type 2 diabetes. We previously demonstrated that fatty acid oxidation was enhanced in transgenic mouse adipocytes, wherein the rate-limiting enzyme of the HBP, glutamine:fructose-6-phosphate amidotransferase (GFA), was overexpressed. To explore the molecular mechanism of the HBP-i...

Wheat germ agglutinin binding to a rat hepatoma cell line dRLa 74 treated with concanavalin A was studied. It increased depending on the concanavalin A concentration in the culture medium. The cells exhibited about twofold increase in wheat germ agglutinin-binding when pretreated with 50 micrograms/ml of concanavalin A for 48 h. The wheat germ agglutinin binding sites were shown to be localized...

The role of sialic acid in the interaction of sialoglycoproteins with wheat germ agglutinin was investigated by using several well characterized saccharides and sialoglycoconjugates. N-Acetylneuraminic acid and neuramin 2 + 3 lactose, in addition to N-acetyl-Dglucosamine and its fil-+ 4 oligomers were found to be inhibitors of wheat germ agglutinin-induced hemagglutination. Neuraminic acid-/?-m...

The role of sialic acid in the interaction of sialoglycoproteins with wheat germ agglutinin was investigated by using several well characterized saccharides and sialoglycoconjugates. N-Acetylneuraminic acid and neuramin 2 + 3 lactose, in addition to N-acetyl-Dglucosamine and its fil-+ 4 oligomers were found to be inhibitors of wheat germ agglutinin-induced hemagglutination. Neuraminic acid-/?-m...

The influence of varying the amount of wheat germ agglutinin immobilized on Sepharose beads on the binding of glycoproteins to these beads was investigated. A series of wheat germ agglutinin-Sepharose gels containing between 0.10 and 10.0 mg of lectin/ml of gel was prepared, and the actual lectin content was established by acid hydrolysis of the gel followed by analysis of glycine, a major amin...