Abstract |
Lectins are proteins of non immune origin that recognize and bind with high specificity to glycoconjugates without modifying them. Their ability to recognize specifically sugars and glycoconjugates either in a free form or embedded in the cellular membrane, makes lectins valuable tools in carbohydrate studying. Changes that the surface glycoconjugates undergo as a result of normal cell development and differentiation, pathological situations, or cancer have been studied and keep on being studied by the use of several lectins. For that purpose the lectin of the crustacean Squilla mantis was isolated, biochemically characterized and applied at histochemistry experiments. More specifically the lectin was isolated from the hemolymph of the shrimp using a GlcNAc column and analysis with SDS PAGE revealed a band of 36kDa. The lectins activity title was determined to be 128-256 and its most potent inhibitors are sialic acid and mucin. In a try to fish the lectins gene, the N-terminal was determined and its mass spectrum, but the subsequent fishing resulted at the gene of cytochrome c oxidase. At the histochemical part, the fluorescent lectin showed an obvious preference to epithelial cells of normal and cancer tissues. The most remarkable finding is the ability of the lectin to distinguish between normal and cancer tissues of various organs.
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