BACKGROUND Mannose-binding lectin is a collectin involved in host defense against infection. Whether mannose-binding lectin deficiency is associated with acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is debated. METHODS Participants in a study designed to determine if azithromycin taken daily for one year decreased acute exacerbations had serum mannose-binding lectin concentrat...

The three crystal structures reported here provide details of the interactions of mannose and the mannosyl-α-1,3-mannose component of a pentamannose with banana lectin and evidence for the binding of glucosyl-α-1,2-glucose to the lectin. The known structures involving the lectin include a complex with glucosyl-β-1,3-glucose. Modeling studies on the three disaccharide complexes with the reducing...

Helix pomatia lectin (HPL) bound to colloidal gold was used as a specific cytochemical probe for the localization of terminal nonreducing N-acetyl-D-galactosamine residues in thin sections of rat kidney. In the glomerulus, lectin-binding sites were associated only with the podocyte foot process bases and were not found on the free cell surface of podocytes or on any other glomerular components....

b a ckground: the role of lectins is important in interaction between pathogens and mosquito vectors. this study was performed to identify agglutinin activities of protein molecules on the midgut of culex pipiens . m e t hods: c u lex pipiens was reared in insectray condition and the midguts of males and females (blood fed and un- fed) were dissected separately in tris-hcl buffer. the extracts ...

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...

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.