Soluble /3-galactoside-specific lectins have been detected in many rabbit tissues and are relatively abundant in certain organs. These lectins are apparently identical to the lectin in rabbit bone marrow, which may be involved in inter-erythroblast associations during differentiation, and are very similar in structure and activity to lectins described in a number of species both in adult and em...

Despite advances in the study of particle selection in suspension-feeding bivalves, the mechanisms upon which bivalves rely to discriminate among particles have not been elucidated. We hypothesized that particle sorting in suspension-feeding bivalves could be based, in part, on a biochemical recognition mechanism mediated by lectins within the mucus that covers the feeding organs. Using Crassos...

Crystal structure determination of the lectin domain of MSMEG_3662 from Mycobacterium smegmatis and its complexes with mannose and methyl-α-mannose, the first effort of its kind on a mycobacterial lectin, reveals a structure very similar to β-prism II fold lectins from plant sources, but with extensive unprecedented domain swapping in dimer formation. The two subunits in a dimer often show smal...

Examples of inter- and intramolecular direct co-functioning of lectins and enzymes are summarized. The data indicate importance of lectin-enzyme relationships in molecular and clinical microbiology and medical biotechnology. Lectin-enzyme relationships have extended prospects in medicine and biotechnology.

background: the aim of this research was to study the distribution and changes of glycoconjugates particularly their terminal sugars by using lectin histochemistry during mouse spinal cord development. methods: formalin-fixed sections of mouse embryo (10-16 fetal days) were processed for lectin histochemical method. in this study, two groups of horseradish peroxidase-labeled specific lectins we...

This paper reports the overall effects of three lectins, extracted from Canavalia brasiliensis, Dioclea violacea, and D. grandiflora, on BALB/c mice popliteal draining lymph nodes. These lectins have presented high stimulatory capacity on lymph node T cells. Additionally, they were able to induce apoptosis and inflammation (frequently associated with high endothelial venule necrosis). The data ...

Lectin binding histochemistry was performed on the developing sympathetic ganglionic cells to investigate the distribution and density of defined carbohydrate terminals on the cell surface glycoproteins during autonomic system morphogenesis. Sprague-Dauley rat embryos from 9th gestational day to birth were fixed and paraffinized. Serial sections of these specimens were incubated with different ...

During early neurogenesis, the floor plate plays an essential role(s) in the differentiation of the ventral portion of neural tube. In this study, we detected the specific distribution of unique glycoconjugate during the floor plate differentiation. Formalin fixed paraffin sections of BALB/c mice (10-14 embryonic days) were processed for histochemical studies using horseradish peroxidase-labell...

Cell surface carbohydrates play important roles in cell recognition mechanisms. Recently, we provided evidence that particle selection by suspension-feeding bivalves can be mediated by interactions between carbohydrates associated with the particle surface and lectins present in mucus covering bivalve feeding organs. In this study, we used lectins tagged with fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) t...

To study the interactions between a Rhizobium tropici strain and lectins isolated from the seeds of Canavalia ensiformis (ConA) and Canavalia brasiliensis (ConBr), a lectin fluorescence assay was performed. In addition, an experiment was designed to evaluate the effect of the two lectins on bacterial growth. Both lectins were found to bind to R. tropici cells, but the interactions were inhibite...