Abstract
Lectins have been isolated from the bark of three members of the family Caprifoliaceae, Sambucus nigra (elder), S. racemosa (red-berried elder) and S. ebulus (dwarf elder), by affinity chromatography on fetuin-agarose, ion-exchange and gel-filtration chromatography. They are all glycoproteins of M r 140 000 made up of at least four subunits. The lectin have similar but not identical amino-acid compositions and the carbohydrate content varies between 12% and 19% (w/w), the main sugars being (N-acetyl)glucosamine, mannose, fucose and xylose. Inhibition studies of hemagglutination with various mono- and oligosaccharides have shown that N-acetylgalactosamine and galactose together with galactose-containing oligosaccharides are the most effective inhibitors. There are some differences in specificity, in particular S. ebulus agglutinin is inhibited to the same degree by galactosamine, N-acetylgalactosamine and by galactose.
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Abbreviations
- PBS:
-
phosphate-buffered saline
- SDS-PAGE:
-
sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis
- SEA:
-
S. ebulus agglutinin
- SNA:
-
S. nigra agglutinin
- SRA:
-
S. racemosa agglutinin
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Nsimba-Lubaki, M., Peumans, W.J. & Allen, A.K. Isolation and characterization of glycoprotein lectins from the bark of three species of elder, Sambucus ebulus, S. nigra and S. racemosa . Planta 168, 113–118 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00407017
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00407017