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Singh SS, Wong JH, Ng TB, Singh WS, Thangjam R. Biomedical Applications of Lectins from Traditional Chinese Medicine. Curr Protein Pept Sci 2019; 20:220-230. [DOI: 10.2174/1389203719666180612081709] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/01/2018] [Revised: 04/13/2018] [Accepted: 05/20/2018] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Lectins are proteins or glycoproteins of non-immune origin which have at least one noncatalytic
domain that bind reversibly to specific mono or oligosaccharides. Traditional Chinese Medicine
(TCM) involves a broad range of medicinal practices sharing common concepts which have been
developed in China and are based on a tradition of more than thousands of years. Plant materials which
are commonly used in TCM as a complementary or alternative for Western medical treatments contain a
considerable number of important lectins. These lectins have been reported to have various applications
and uses such as cancer treatment, glycoconjugate research, biomarker development, and others. Here,
we summarize the available literature related to lectins from TCM and recent trends in their potential
biomedical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Senjam Sunil Singh
- Laboratory of Protein Biochemistry, Biochemistry Department, Manipur University, Canchipur, Imphal-795003, India
| | - Jack Ho Wong
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, China
| | - Tzi Bun Ng
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, China
| | - Wayenbam Sobhachandra Singh
- Laboratory of Protein Biochemistry, Biochemistry Department, Manipur University, Canchipur, Imphal-795003, India
| | - Robert Thangjam
- Department of Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Mizoram University, Aizawl - 796 004, India
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Hashim OH, Jayapalan JJ, Lee CS. Lectins: an effective tool for screening of potential cancer biomarkers. PeerJ 2017; 5:e3784. [PMID: 28894650 PMCID: PMC5592079 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.3784] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2017] [Accepted: 08/18/2017] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
In recent years, the use of lectins for screening of potential biomarkers has gained increased importance in cancer research, given the development in glycobiology that highlights altered structural changes of glycans in cancer associated processes. Lectins, having the properties of recognizing specific carbohydrate moieties of glycoconjugates, have become an effective tool for detection of new cancer biomarkers in complex bodily fluids and tissues. The specificity of lectins provides an added advantage of selecting peptides that are differently glycosylated and aberrantly expressed in cancer patients, many of which are not possibly detected using conventional methods because of their low abundance in bodily fluids. When coupled with mass spectrometry, research utilizing lectins, which are mainly from plants and fungi, has led to identification of numerous potential cancer biomarkers that may be used in the future. This article reviews lectin-based methods that are commonly adopted in cancer biomarker discovery research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Onn Haji Hashim
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.,University of Malaya Centre for Proteomics Research, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
| | - Jaime Jacqueline Jayapalan
- University of Malaya Centre for Proteomics Research, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
| | - Cheng-Siang Lee
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
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Abstract
Lectins are carbohydrate binding proteins present in seeds of many plants, especially corals and beans, in fungi and bacteria, and in animals. Apart from their hemagglutinating property, a wide range of functions have been attributed to them. Their importance in the area of immunohematology is immense. They are used to detect specific red cell antigens, to activate different types of lymphocytes, in order to resolve problems related to polyagglutination and so on. The introduction of advanced biotechnological tools generates new opportunities to exploit the properties of lectins, which were not used earlier. Stem cell research is a very important area in transplant medicine. Certain lectins detect surface markers of stem cell. Hence, they are used to understand the developmental biology of stem cells. The role of various lectins in the areas of transfusion and transplant medicine is discussed in detail in this review.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ajit C Gorakshakar
- Department of Transfusion Medicine, National Institute of Immunohaematology, KEM Hospital Campus, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
| | - Kanjaksha Ghosh
- Department of Transfusion Medicine, National Institute of Immunohaematology, KEM Hospital Campus, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
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Kobayashi Y, Tateno H, Ogawa H, Yamamoto K, Hirabayashi J. Comprehensive list of lectins: origins, natures, and carbohydrate specificities. Methods Mol Biol 2014; 1200:555-577. [PMID: 25117264 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-1292-6_45] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
More than 100 years have passed since the first lectin ricin was discovered. Since then, a wide variety of lectins (lect means "select" in Latin) have been isolated from plants, animals, fungi, bacteria, as well as viruses, and their structures and properties have been characterized. At present, as many as 48 protein scaffolds have been identified as functional lectins from the viewpoint of three-dimensional structures as described in this chapter. In this chapter, representative 53 lectins are selected, and their major properties that include hemagglutinating activity, mitogen activity, blood group specificity, molecular weight, metal requirement, and sugar specificities are summarized as a comprehensive table. The list will provide a practically useful, comprehensive list for not only experienced lectin users but also many other non-expert researchers, who are not familiar to lectins and, therefore, have no access to advanced lectin biotechnologies described in other chapters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuka Kobayashi
- J-Oil Mills, Inc., 11, Kagetoricho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 245-0064, Japan,
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Phytolacca americana lectin (Pa-2; pokeweed mitogen): an intrinsically unordered protein and its conversion into partial order at low pH. Biosci Rep 2009; 30:125-34. [PMID: 19438410 DOI: 10.1042/bsr20090035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
This is the first report of its kind that well demonstrates that a lectin from Phytolacca americana [Pa-2 (P. americana lectin-2)] can also be intrinsically unordered, based on the results obtained by CD, tryptophan fluorescence, ANS (8-anilinonaphthalene-1-sulfonic acid) binding, acrylamide quenching, DLS (dynamic light scattering) and its amino acid composition database analyses. Pa-2 is an acidic monomeric lectin and acquires random coil conformation at neutral pH without any regular secondary structure. As confirmed by different spectroscopic techniques, on lowering the pH, some secondary structures, predominantly alpha-helices, are detected by far-UV CD that adopt a marginally stable partially folded collapsed conformation possessing the characteristics of a premolten globule state. It is in accordance with coil-helix transition that is commonly observed when these intrinsically unordered proteins interact with their partner molecules in vivo.
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Yamaguchi K, Uechi M, Katakura Y, Oda T, Ishiguro M. Mitogenic properties of pokeweed lectin-D isoforms on human peripheral blood lymphocytes: non-mitogen PL-D1 and mitogen PL-D2. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem 2005; 68:1591-3. [PMID: 15277769 DOI: 10.1271/bbb.68.1591] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
We investigated native structures and mitogenic properties of pokeweed lectin-D isoforms (PL-D1 and -D2) on human peripheral blood lymphocytes along with other isolectins (PL-A to -C). Both native PL-D isoforms appeared to behave as monomers. PL-D2 proliferated the lymphocytes like PL-C, whereas PL-D1 had no mitogenicity. PL-D1 acquired mitogenic activity after trimming of the C-terminal dipeptide.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenichi Yamaguchi
- Laboratory of Protein Chemistry & Engineering, Graduate School of Genetic Resources Technology, Kyushu University, 6-10-1 Hakozaki, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan.
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Hayashida M, Fujii T, Hamasu M, Ishiguro M, Hata Y. Similarity between Protein–Protein and Protein–Carbohydrate Interactions, Revealed by Two Crystal Structures of Lectins from the Roots of Pokeweed. J Mol Biol 2003; 334:551-65. [PMID: 14623194 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2003.09.076] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
The roots of pokeweed (Phytolacca americana) are known to contain the lectins designated PL-A, PL-B, PL-C, PL-D1, and PL-D2. Of these lectins, the crystal structures of two PLs, the ligand-free PL-C and the complex of PL-D2 with tri-N-acetylchitotriose, have been determined at 1.8A resolution. The polypeptide chains of PL-C and PL-D2 form three and two repetitive chitin-binding domains, respectively. In the crystal structure of the PL-D2 complex, one trisaccharide molecule is shared mainly between two neighboring molecules related to each other by a crystallographic 2(1)-screw axis, and infinite helical chains of complexed molecules are generated by the sharing of ligand molecules. The crystal structure of PL-C reveals that the molecule is a dimer of two identical subunits, whose polypeptide chains are located in a head-to-tail fashion by a molecular 2-fold axis. Three putative carbohydrate-binding sites in each subunit are located in the dimer interface. The dimerization of PL-C is performed through the hydrophobic interactions between the carbohydrate-binding sites of the opposite domains in the dimer, leading to a distinct dimerization mode from that of wheat-germ agglutinin. Three aromatic residues in each carbohydrate-binding site of PL-C are involved in the dimerization. These residues correspond to the residues that interact mainly with the trisaccharide in the PL-D2 complex and appear to mimic the saccharide residues in the complex. Consequently, the present structure of the PL-C dimer has no room for accommodating carbohydrate. The quaternary structure of PL-C formed through these putative carbohydrate-binding residues may lead to the lack of hemagglutinating activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Minoru Hayashida
- Institute for Chemical Research, Kyoto University, Uji, 611-0011, Kyoto, Japan
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Ingrey KT, Ren J, Prescott JF. A fluoroquinolone induces a novel mitogen-encoding bacteriophage in Streptococcus canis. Infect Immun 2003; 71:3028-33. [PMID: 12761079 PMCID: PMC155711 DOI: 10.1128/iai.71.6.3028-3033.2003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2002] [Revised: 12/02/2002] [Accepted: 02/25/2003] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
This study investigated whether the recently recognized emergence of canine streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS) and necrotizing fasciitis (NF) might be partly attributed to the use of fluoroquinolones to treat Streptococcus canis infections in dogs. Both mitomycin and the fluoroquinolone enrofloxacin caused bacteriophage-induced lysis of S. canis strain 34, an isolate from a case of canine STSS and NF. Fluoroquinolone-evoked, bacteriophage-induced lysis occurred over a range of concentrations similar to those that would occur after treatment of dogs with these agents. To search for a possible bacteriophage-encoded streptococcal superantigen gene(s), a library of the 36.5 (+/-1.1)-kb bacteriophage, designated phisc1, was made by ligating 3- to 7-kb Tsp5091-digested phisc1 fragments into an EcoRI-digested lambdaZapII vector. Recombinants were screened for mitogenic activity by using canine peripheral blood lymphocytes. Of 800 recombinants screened, 11 recombinants with mitogenic effects were identified, and their inserts were sequenced. The highest homology of 11.6 kb of sequenced phisc1 DNA was to the completely sequenced Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteriophage MM1. Seven of the 11 phisc1 sequenced inserts contained a 552-bp open reading frame, scm, with 27% amino acid similarity to pokeweed (Phytolacca americana) mitogen. PCR showed this gene to be present in 22 of 23 S. canis isolates tested. Quantitative reverse transcription-PCR showed that bacteriophage induction was associated with a 58-fold enhancement of expression of this gene relative to that in a noninduced culture of a similar age. The presence of this gene on a fluoroquinolone-induced bacteriophage may explain the association observed between fluoroquinolone use in dogs and the development of canine STTS and NF.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keely T Ingrey
- Department of Pathobiology, University of Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1, Canada
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Taira T, Yamagami T, Aso Y, Ishiguro M, Ishihara M. Localization, accumulation, and antifungal activity of chitinases in rye (Secale cereale) seed. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem 2001; 65:2710-8. [PMID: 11826968 DOI: 10.1271/bbb.65.2710] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
In order to understand a physiological role of chitinases in rye, the localization and accumulation of rye seed chitinase-a and -c (RSC-a and -c) in the seeds were studied by immunochemical methods. An antiserum specific to the chitin-binding domain (CB-domain), which is an N-terminal part of RSC-a, and an antiserum specific to the catalytic region of RSC-a and RSC-c were used. An immunoblot analysis detected both RSC-a and RSC-c in the endosperm of the rye seed. Immunohistochemical staining indicated that RSC-a was localized in only the aleurone cells, whereas RSC-c existed at least in the starchy endosperm and was also likely to exist in the aleurone cells. It was found by ELISA and an immunoblot analysis that RSC-a and -c accumulated in the seed during the later stage of development. Both chitinases and the Cat-domain exhibited antifungal activity toward Trichoderma species, while the CB-domain did not. Observation of the inhibition of hyphal growth of the T. species suggests that the two chitinases acted in different ways.
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Affiliation(s)
- T Taira
- Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Ryukyu University, Okinawa, Japan.
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