This study examined the influence of a low level of dietary lectin (0.34%), at a dose that did not affect body weight or food intake, on the concentration of serum cholesterol and fecal excretion of neutral sterols in rats fed a diet containing 0.50% cholesterol and 0.13% sodium cholate for 12 d. In experiment 1, rats fed a diet with 0.34% lectin, concanavalin A, had significantly lower concent...

The combining region of Artocarpus integrifolia lectin has been studied by using the ligand-induced changes in the fluorescence of the lectin. The saccharide binding properties of the lectin show that C-1, C-2, C-4, and C-6 hydroxyl groups of D-galactose are important loci for sugar binding. The alpha-anomer of galactose binds more strongly than its beta-counterpart. Inversion in the configurat...

A lectin specific for chito-oligosaccharides from the exudate of ridge gourd (Luffa acutangula) fruits has been purified to homogeneity by affinity chromatography. The lectin has molecular weight of 48,000, an S X , , , ~ of 4.06 S and a Stokes radius of 2.9 nm. Upon sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, a single band corresponding to M, of 24,000 was observed both in the p...

BACKGROUND Glycosylation is one of the most common post-translational modifications of eukaryotic proteins and is known to undergo dynamic changes in a wide range of biological processes. To date, however, the glycan expression profiles in endometriosis are largely unknown. The objective of the study was to identify the panel of glycans that were aberrantly expressed in endometriosis, a hormone...

The lectin binding characteristics of goldfish retinal explants were examined by fluorescence microscopy. Neurites grown out from cultured retinal explants were found to bind concanavalin A, wheat germ agglutinin and ricin (agglutinin). The effects of tissue fixation on lectin binding to retinal explant neurites suggest that glycolipids may constitute the predominant ricin binding sites. A redu...

Complement activation has a role in the pathogenesis of IgA nephropathy, an autoimmune disease mediated by pathogenic immune complexes consisting of galactose-deficient IgA1 bound by antiglycan antibodies. Of three complement-activation pathways, the alternative and lectin pathways are involved in IgA nephropathy. IgA1 can activate both pathways in vitro, and pathway components are present in t...

The lectin complement pathway is initiated by binding of mannose-binding lectin (MBL) and MBL-associated serine protease (MASP) to carbohydrates. In the human lectin pathway, MASP-1 and MASP-2 are involved in the proteolysis of C4, C2 and C3. Here we report that the human MBL-MASP complex contains a new 22 kDa protein [small MBL-associated protein (sMAP)] bound to MASP-1. Analysis of the nucleo...

The mutational analysis of the galectin family is shedding a different light of this class of molecules. On the one hand, it appears that galectin 1 and galectin 3 are not required for the survival of mice in normal animal house conditions, while on the other hand, there seems to be several subtle, but very complex, consequences of lacking galectins during development.

Abstract LipoPolySaccharides are a hallmark of Gram-negative bacteria and their presence at the cell surface is key for bacterial integrity. As exposed components, they recognized by immunity C-type lectin receptors present on Antigen Presenting Cells. Human Macrophage Galactose Lectin binds E. coli that presents specific glycan motif. Nevertheless, this high affinity interaction occurs regardl...

Lectin proteins, such as the highly toxic lectin protein, ricin, and the immunochemically important lectin, jacalin, play significant roles in many biological functions. It is highly desirable to develop a simple but efficient method to selectively detect lectin proteins. Here we report the development of carbohydrate containing responsive hydrogel sensing materials for the selective detection ...