Galectins are a group of lectins that can bind carbohydrate chains containing β-galactoside units. LEC-6, a member of galectins of Caenorhabditis elegans, binds fucose-containing saccharides. We solved the crystal structure of LEC-6 in complex with galactose-β1,4-fucose (Galβ1-4Fuc) at 1.5 Å resolution. The overall structure of the protein and the identities of the amino-acid residues binding t...

The brown algae Padina gymnospora contain different fucans. Powdered algae were submitted to proteolysis with the proteolytic enzyme maxataze. The first extract of the algae was constituted of polysaccharides contaminated with lipids, phenols, etc. Fractionation of the fucans with increasing concentrations of acetone produced fractions with different proportions of fucose, xylose, uronic acid, ...

A novel fucose-binding lectin (SL2-1) from the bacterium Streptomyces rapamycinicus was identified by analysis of metagenomic DNA sequences. SL2-1 belongs to a new group of bacterial fucose-specific lectins that have no similarity to known bacterial fucose-binding proteins, but are related to certain eukaryotic fucose-binding lectins. The 17 kDa protein was expressed recombinantly in E. coli an...

The presence of fucosyl residues linked alpha 1----3(4) to N-acetylglucosamine was demonstrated on the oligosaccharides from glycoproteins of 11 human neuroblastoma tumors from ten different patients. This finding is in complete agreement with the previous report that human neuroblastoma cell lines contained an unusually large proportion of metabolically incorporated L-[3H]fucose in this specif...

Lec13 cells, a variant Chinese hamster ovary cell line, were used to produce human IgG1 that were deficient in fucose attached to the Asn(297)-linked carbohydrate but were otherwise similar to that found in IgG1 produced in normal Chinese hamster ovary cell lines and from human serum. Lack of fucose on the IgG1 had no effect on binding to human FcgammaRI, C1q, or the neonatal Fc receptor. Altho...

At least 60 percent of the fucose residues in HeLa cell glycoprotein are nonreducing, terminal, and closely proximal to the protein carbohydrate linkage. As determined by pulse-labeling with (3H) fucose and sizing glycopeptides in Sephadex chromatography these residues are added near the time of completion of oligosaccharide chains. Glycoproteins, the large bulk if not the only macromolecules l...

Burkholderia ambifaria is an opportunistic respiratory pathogen belonging to the Burkholderia cepacia complex, a collection of species responsible for the rapidly fatal cepacia syndrome in cystic fibrosis patients. A fucose-binding lectin identified in the B. ambifaria genome, BambL, is able to adhere to lung tissue, and may play a role in respiratory infection. X-ray crystallography has reveal...

We have demonstrated previously that there is a marked decrease in the level of labeled fucose incorporated into an amino acid fucoside, i.e., fucosyl-W-acetylglucosaminylasparagine (FL4c) in SV40-transformed human embryonic lung cells (SV40-WI-38) as compared to WI-38 cells (Morton, P. A., Klinger, M. M., and Steiner, S. Cancer Res., 42: 3022-3027, 1982). In the current study, we have observed...

The localization of glycoprotein synthesis and storage was studied during acrosome formation in guinea-pig using fine-structure autoradiography after (3H)-fucose incorporation. Three days after (3H)-fucose injection, labelling in spermatids was concentrated in the matrix of developing acrosomes, and it was evident that the fucosylation of acrosomal glycoproteins largely overshadowed the fucosyl...

We have demonstrated previously that there is a marked decrease in the level of labeled fucose incorporated into an amino acid fucoside, i.e., fucosyl-N-acetylglucosaminylasparagine (FL4c) in SV40-transformed human embryonic lung cells (SV40-WI-38) as compared to WI-38 cells (Morton, P.A., Klinger, M. M., and Steiner, S. Cancer Res., 42: 3022-3027, 1982). In the current study, we have observed ...