Biomaterial Database

Plant lectins - more than just tools for glycoscientists: occurrence, structure, and possible functions of plant lectins. 1998

H Rüdiger

Institut für Pharmazie und Lebensmittelchemie der Universität Würzburg, Deutschland. ruediger@pharmazie.uni-wuerzburg.de

Plant lectins are easily available, fairly stable and suitable for many kinds of chemical modification. Thus, they have become important tools in glycosciences. In the present review, it is attempted to throw light upon aspects of lectinology that deal with their natural occurrence, biosynthesis, structure, binding specificities and hypotheses about their biological functions.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D010940	Plant Proteins	Proteins found in plants (flowers, herbs, shrubs, trees, etc.). The concept does not include proteins found in vegetables for which PLANT PROTEINS, DIETARY is available.	Plant Protein,Protein, Plant,Proteins, Plant
D002241	Carbohydrates	A class of organic compounds composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen in a ratio of Cn(H2O)n. The largest class of organic compounds, including STARCH; GLYCOGEN; CELLULOSE; POLYSACCHARIDES; and simple MONOSACCHARIDES.	Carbohydrate
D001665	Binding Sites	The parts of a macromolecule that directly participate in its specific combination with another molecule.	Combining Site,Binding Site,Combining Sites,Site, Binding,Site, Combining,Sites, Binding,Sites, Combining
D050260	Carbohydrate Metabolism	Cellular processes in biosynthesis (anabolism) and degradation (catabolism) of CARBOHYDRATES.	Metabolism, Carbohydrate
D037102	Lectins	Proteins that share the common characteristic of binding to carbohydrates. Some ANTIBODIES and carbohydrate-metabolizing proteins (ENZYMES) also bind to carbohydrates, however they are not considered lectins. PLANT LECTINS are carbohydrate-binding proteins that have been primarily identified by their hemagglutinating activity (HEMAGGLUTININS). However, a variety of lectins occur in animal species where they serve diverse array of functions through specific carbohydrate recognition.	Animal Lectin,Animal Lectins,Isolectins,Lectin,Isolectin,Lectin, Animal,Lectins, Animal