Carbohydrate-binding specificity specific lectins

Kornfeld, K., Reitman, M.-L. and Kornfeld, R. (1981). The carbohydrate-binding specificity of pea and lentil lectins. Fucose is an important determinant. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 256,6633-6640. 

In summary, the lentil lectins exhibit a carbohydrate-binding specificity similar to those of the pea lectin and con A primary specificity is towards a-D-mannopyranosyl residues (2), and secondary is to a-D-... 

Many unanswered questions remain with respect to the lentil lectins. These include the chemical relationship between the two lectins, a comparison of their carbohydrate-binding specificity, a study of the binding of furanoid sugars (for example, a- and /3-arabinofuranosides) to the lectins, and a determination of the H or O atoms of each hydroxyl group which may be involved in the binding phenomenon. There is also the question as to the size of the binding site will the lentil-lectin site be more complementary to sequences of a-D-(l— 2)-mannopyranosyl residues than is con A (compare Ref. 204) ... 

A thorough study of pea-lectin, carbohydrate-binding specificity was conducted by Van Wauwe and coworkers211 (see Table V). By hapten-... 

Studies on the carbohydrate-binding specificity of the fava-bean lectin, as determined by hapten inhibition of hemagglutination,140,213,466-469 showed that the lectin is inhibited by Makela s group III sugars (see Table VI). Hemagglutination by the lectin was inhibited by... 

From the interest expressed in the fava-bean lectin, we may expect to receive more-complete information on both its structure and carbohydrate-binding specificity in the near future. 

Phenyl and p-nitrophenyl /3-D-galactopyranoside, as well as lactose, were poorly inhibitory.19,478 The high lectin-reactivity reported for 2 -O-L-fucosyllactose is interesting, but inconsistent with the observed carbohydrate-binding specificity of the lectin (the authors might well have tested the very active trisaccharide just noted).196... 

In summary, both the physical-chemical and carbohydrate binding-specificity studies on this interesting and important lectin are incomplete additional characterization is required before the lectin can be employed as a meaningful, structural probe. 

The carbohydrate-binding specificity of purified Dolichos biflorus lectin has been studied in detail by Etzler and Kabat.108 In precipitin studies conducted on the Dolichos lectin, 87-99% was precipitated by ovarian cyst A substance, whereas only 60-70% was precipitated by hog A substance the latter result was attributed to the formation of soluble, lectin-oligosaccharide complexes. At substances were more reactive than A2 substances however, no reaction was observed with B or O substances, even following mild hydrolysis with acid or two stepwise, Smith degradations. N-Deacetylation of A substance with... 

Extensive information on the carbohydrate-binding specificity of the Helix pomatia lectin was obtained by examining the extent to which a large number of sugars inhibited the precipitation reaction between agglutinin and human blood-group A substance or Salmonella typhinurium SH 180 lipopolysaccharide83,178,581,582 (see Table XI). 

A comparative study of the carbohydrate-binding specificity of four 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-D-galactose-binding lectins (from Dolichos biflorus, Glycine max, Helix pomatia, and Phaseolus lunatus) has been conducted by using a series of model macromolecules for direct precipitation and a variety of mono- and oligo-saccharides as hapten inhibitors.592 The data indicated that the combining site of all four lectins... 

Figs. 14 to 16 present the structures of a series of naturally occurring glycopeptides, and summarize the carbohydrate-binding specificity of a number of lectins in terms of the carbohydrate units with which they interact. 

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