Isolation and characterization of a new β-galactose-specific lectin from the sea worm Chaetopterus variopedatus
✍ Scribed by Lidiya V. Mikheyskaya; Evgeny V. Evtushenko; Raisa G. Ovodova; Nataliya I. Belogortseva; Yury S. Ovodov
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 1995
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 369 KB
- Volume
- 275
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0008-6215
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✦ Synopsis
Lectins isolated from numerous plants, bacteria, and animals including marine invertebrates are now known to represent proteins and glycoproteins of the non-immune system. Owing to their unique properties to bind carbohydrates and sugar determinants of biopolymers with a higher avidity, lectins are now very widely used for studies of the structural and functional roles of glycoconjugates as well as for monitoring alterations on the surface of normal and neoplastic cells [1,2]. Lectins have been used for separation and purification O f glycoconjugates [3] and in diagnosis of various diseases [4].
Marine organisms are attractive for lectinologists as new origins and sources of unusual lectins. We now report the isolation, purification and properties of a new lectin from sea worm Chaetopterus variopedatus (CVL) which showed /3-galactose specificity. An attempt to clarify the mechanism of inhibition of the CVL hemagglutination with mono-and oligo-saccharides is made.
CVL was isolated from fresh marine worms C. variopedatus collected at the sublittoral of the Bay of Peter Great of the Sea of Japan. Marine animals harvested were homogenized and subjected to extraction with saline, followed by precipitation with ammonium sulphate. The fraction obtained was shown to possess hemagglutinating activity, which was inhibited with galactose and lactose. In this connection, a purifica-