Purification and characterization of a lectin from the mushroom, Flammulina veltipes

A lectin was purified to homogeneity from the mushroom, Flammulina veltipes, by zinc acetate treatment and CM-cellulose column chromatography. Its molecular weight was estimated to be 20,000 by gel filtration and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The lectin does not contain carbohydrate, half-cystine, methionine, or histidine. On gel filtration sith Sepharose 6B in the presence of 6M guanidine-HCl, the purified lectin dissociated into two nonidentical subunits, FVA-L (molecular weight, 12,000) and FVA-S (8,000). The hemagglutinating activity was retained only in the FVA-L subunit. The lectin is mitogenic with respect to mouse spleen lymphocytes.     

Purification Of Mouse and Human Interferons: Detection Of Subunit Structure

During the purification of mouse and human interferons, multiple active components have been detected. Mouse interferon was purified over 500-fold by differential precipitation, centrifugation, gel chromatography, and isoelectric focusing. On electrofocusing, two molecular forms (A and B) were noted. Form B (pI 7.35) had a molecular weight of about 38,000 and Form A (pI 7.15), which was equally active, a molecular weight of 19,000. Purified Form B was dissociable into Form A, but the reverse reaction occurred to a much lesser extent. Human interferon, purified about 1500-fold, is also composed of multiple molecular forms. Form B (pi 5.60) had a molecular weight of about 24,000 and Form A (pi 5.35), which may contain up to 85% of the total activity, a molecular weight of 12,000. Both forms appear to have equal specific activities. The dissociation of both human and mouse interferons into subunits appeared to take place during dialysis versus low salt (0.01 M tris pH 7.A). The data are consistent with the idea that the native molecule exists as a dimer of similar or identical subunits. Dimer formation, which probably occurs within the cells, does not seem to lead to a measurable cooperative effect between the subunits.     

Purification and characterization of a lectin from the beetle, Allomyrina dichotoma

A lectin was purified from the hemolymph of Allomyrina dichotoma larvae by affinity chromatography on acid-treated Sepharose 4B. The purified lectin showed two protein bands on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. These two lectin bands (allo A-I and -II) were separated by DEAE-Cellulofine column chromatography. By gel filtration on Sephadex G-100, the molecular weights of allo A-I and -II were estimated to be 65,000 and 66,500, respectively. On the other hand, by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis after cross-linking of subunits with glutaraldehyde, they are estimated to be 38,000 and 39,000, respectively. On SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, it was proved that both allo A-I and -II lectin consisted of two subunits, respectively. The molecular weights were 17,500 and 20,000 for allo A-I, and 19,000 and 20,000 for allo A-II. The isoelectric points of allo A-I and -II were estimated to be 6.4 and 5.9, respectively. On double immunodiffusion, allo A-I and -II gave single precipitin lines, which fused completely with each other, against the antibody to crude allo A. The hemagglutinating activity of allo A-I and -II was inhibited only by beta-linked D-galactose such as lactose and lactulose.     

Characterization of the different polypeptide components and analysis of subunit assembly in ferritin.

Ferritin was dissociated into subunits by various denaturants and the subunits were examined by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Human, horse, rat, and rabbit ferritins all exhibited characteristic patterns of heterogeneity; components with molecular weights of about 19,000, 11,000, and 8,000 were invariably found in these preparations. This result contradicts earlier reports that ferritin consists of 24 identical subunits. These polypeptides were isolated, purified in the presence of low concentrations of detergent, and characterized. Evidence based on amino acid compositions, NH2-terminal analysis and investigation of detergent-induced breakdown products, indicated that the 19,000 molecular weight component is a composite of the 8,000 and 11,000 molecular weight chains. Circular dichroism studies showed that the 19,000 molecular weight polypeptide retained appreciable amounts of ordered secondary structure whereas the two lower molecular weight peptides were unfolded to a much greater extent. If the 8,000 and 11,000 molecular weight polypeptides were recombined in equimolar amounts and the denaturant was completely removed, a substance with electrophoretic mobility and morphological appearance of native apoferritin was obtained.     

Purification and characterization of a mitogenic lectin and a lectin-binding protein from Vicia sativa

From the seeds of Vicia sativa, a novel mitogenic lectin was isolated. Purification was carried out by affinity chromatography on Sephadex G-100. The tetrameric lectin is a glycoprotein with a molecular weight of Mr 40 000; it consists of two large beta-subunits (Mr 14 000) and two small alpha-subunits (Mr 6000). The N-terminal sequence of both subunits and their amino acid compositions were determined. The lectin agglutinates human erythrocytes, preferring group B, and erythrocytes from rabbits and horses; no agglutination takes place with sheep erythrocytes. Agglutination is inhibited by mono-, di- and tri-saccharides with the configuration of glucose at the free 4-hydroxyl group. The lectin stimulates mitosis in lymphocytes of mice. From the seeds of the same plant, a protein was isolated which binds to the lectin described above. The lectin binder consists of subunits with a molecular weight of 53 500.     

格拉姆柱花草(Stylosanthes gracilis H.B.K.cv.Graham)凝集素的纯化与性质研究

为了探讨凝集素在豆科植物与根瘤菌的识别过程中的作用,用ＤＥＡＥ－３２离子交换层析和ＳｅｐｈａｄｅｘＧ－１５０凝胶过滤分离、纯化格拉姆柱花草种子凝集素（ＳＧＬ）,其分子量约为４５ｋＤ,由两个相同的亚基组成,等电点约ｐＨ５．８,它是一种糖蛋白,含糖量约为２．６％．ＳＧＬ的热稳定性强．ＳＧＬ的血凝活性能被甘露糖所抑制．ＳＧＬ对红细胞的凝集作用可能具有种属专一性;ＳＧＬ具有强的促有丝分裂作用;荧光标记实验显示：９株能与格拉姆柱花草植株结瘤的菌株有７株能与ＳＧＬ结合,６株不能与之结瘤的菌株,只有１株能与ＳＧＬ结合,这表明不同根瘤菌菌株对ＳＧＬ的结合能力,和它们在格拉姆柱花草上结瘤能力之间可能具有一定的生物学相关性．     

Purification and characterization of two lectins from Aloe arborescens Mill.

Two lectins have been isolated from leaves of Aloe arborescens Mill by salt precipitation, pH-dependent fractionation and gel filtration. One lectin (P-2) has a molecular weight of approximately 18,000, consists of two subunits (alphabeta) and contains more than 18% by weight of neutral carbohydrate. The smaller subunit (alpha) has a molecular weight of approximately 7,500 and the larger subunit (beta) a molecular weight of approximately 10,500. The other lectin (S-1) has a molecular weight of approximately 24,000, consists of two subunits (gamma2) with a molecular weight of approximately 12,000 and contains more than 50% by weight of neutral carbohydrate. An interesting feature of the amino acid compositions of these lectins is the high proportion of acidic amino acids, such as aspartic acid and glutamic acid, and the low proportion of methionine and histidine. S-1 has a strong hemagglutinating activity. On the other hand, P-2 has not only hemagglutinating activity but also mitogenic activity on lymphocytes, precipitate-forming reactivity with serum proteins, one of which is alpha2-macroglobulin, and complement C3 activating activity via the alternate pathway.     

Signal requirements for lymphocyte activation: Role of a T-cell growth factor produced by guinea pig peritoneal exudate lymphocytes

Peritoneal exudate lymphocytes (PEL) from immunized guinea pigs, when pulsed with antigen, rapidly release a T-cell stimulatory factor (TSF). TSF nonspecifically enhances the proliferation of purified guinea pig T cells in the presence of another signal such as PMA, PHA, or Con A. On a per cell basis, antigen-pulsed PEL produce about 14 times more activity than similarly stimulated lymph node lymphocytes.Several lines of evidence support the view that TSF is the guinea pig equivalent of TCGF (IL-2). TSF containing supernatants have IL-2 activity when assayed on the IL-2-dependent CT6 cell line. When TSF containing supernatants were absorbed with CT6 cells, there was a significant decrease of both TSF activity as assessed on guinea pig T cells as well as IL-2 activity as assessed by the CT6 assay. Additionally, partially purified human and mouse IL-2 have TSF activity, while the macrophage product, IL-1, has no TSF activity. After chromatography on a S-200 column, TSF activity and IL-2 activity coelute at an apparent molecular weight of 19,000.     

黑色菜豆(Phaseolus sp.)凝集素的纯化和性质

黑色菜豆(phaseolussp.)种子中含有对人A型血专一凝集的凝集素。用猪胃粘蛋白-Sepharose 4B作亲和吸附剂和Sephadex G-200凝胶过滤,可以纯化这种凝集素。纯化的凝集素在pH8.9,Tris-EDTANa_2-borate缓冲液的PAGE中,呈现单一蛋白带;酚-硫酸法测得总糖含量为3.22％。在SDS-PAGE中发现其分子由两种亚基所组成,亚基分子量分别为38,000和35,000。当凝集素浓度分别为0.98μg/ml和1.95μg/ml时能强烈地凝集人A型和AB型血细胞。在凝集素浓度高达500μg/ml时,B型血细胞能发生弱凝集反应,但对O型血和兔红细胞则完全不发生凝集反应。其凝集活性可被GalNAC、L-Fuc、猪甲状腺球蛋白和卵粘蛋白所抑制。该凝集素对人外周血中淋巴细胞的转化率达80％,细胞分裂比率高达37.1％;氨基组成分析表明,凝集素分子中Asp和Glu含量较高,而cys和Met含量很低。     

Binding and functional properties of concanavalin A and its derivatives. II. A proteolytic product with saccharide-binding activity.

Limited digestion of the intact subunit of concanavalin A (Mr = 26,000) with trypsin followed by affinity chromatography on Sephadex G-100 has yielded a highly purified product designated here as Tn-Con A. Chemical studies have shown that Tn-Con A is composed of several components: a large fragment (Tn I, Mr = 19,000) spanning residues 1 to 172, and lower molecular weight polypeptides that are noncovalently associated with Tn I to form the active molecule. The molecular weight of Tn-Con A at pH 7 was 90,000, suggesting that, like native concanavalin A, it was a tetramer at physiological pH. Equilibrium dialysis experiments showed that Tn-Con A bound 1 molecule of alpha-methyl-D-glucoside/22,000 g atoms of protein and therefore that four saccharides are bound by the tetrameric molecule. Tn-Con A and native concanavalin A competed for the same receptors on the lymphocyte surface. Moreover, Tn-Con A was mitogenic for both mouse and human lymphocytes with dose-response curves similar to those of the native lectin. All of these results indicate that tryptic hydrolysis of concanavalin A produces a fragmented molecule retaining the saccharide-binding, subunit association, and mitogenic capacity of the native protein.     

Isolation of a new heterodimeric lectin with mitogenic activity from fruiting bodies of the mushroom Agrocybe cylindracea

From the dried fruiting bodies of the mushroom Agrocybe cylindracea a heterodimeric lectin with a molecular weight of 31.5 kDa and displaying high hemagglutinating activity was isolated. The molecular weights of its subunits were 16.1 kDa and 15.3 kDa respectively. The larger and the smaller subunits resembled Agaricus bisporus lectin and fungal immunomodulatory protein from Volvariella volvacea respectively in N-terminal sequence. The lectin was adsorbed on DEAE-cellulose in 10 mM Tris-HCl buffer (pH 7.4) and was eluted by the same buffer containing 150 mM NaCl. It was adsorbed on SP-Sepharose in 10 mM NH4OAc (pH 4.5) and eluted by approximately 0.19 M NaCl in the same buffer. The lectin was obtained in a purified form after the mushroom extract had been subjected to (NH4)2SO4 precipitation and the two aforementioned ion exchange chromatographic steps. The lectin exhibited potent mitogenic activity toward mouse splenocytes. The hemagglutinating activity of the lectin was inhibited by lactose, sialic acid and inulin.     

Isolation and characterization of cyanogen bromide fragments and a glycopeptide from the Dolichos biflorus lectin.

The 110000 molecular weight Dolichos biflorus lectin is a glycoprotein composed of four subunits of approximately 27000 molecular weight with one methionine residue per subunit (Carter and Etzler, 1975b). Cyanogen bromide cleavage of the lectin yielded two fragments with approximate molecular weights of 15000 and 12000 as determined by electrophoresis on sodium dodecyl sulfate gels. Only the 15000 molecular weight fragment stained for carbohydrate with the periodic acid-Schiff stain. The two fragments were isolated, and their amino acid compositions were determined. The 15000 molecular weight fragment was identified as the amino terminal segment of the lectin subunits by NH2-terminal amino acid analysis. A glycopeptide with a minimum molecular weight of 1100 was isolated from the lectin by exhaustive Pronase digestion. Complete acid hydrolysis of the glycopeptide yielded aspartic acid, mannose, and N-acetylglucosamine in the ratio of 1:4-5:1-2. Partial acid hydrolysis of the glycopeptide produced a component which had an identical mobility with commercial N-acetylglucosaminylasparagine in high voltage paper electrophoresis. The data indicate that the carbohydrate unit of the lectin is bound to the amino terminal half of the subunits by a glycosylamine linkage between N-acetylglucosamine and asparagine.     

Erythro- and lymphoagglutinins of Phaseolus acutifolius

A potent lymphoagglutinin which had low affinity for red cells or fetuin and another lectin which reacted strongly with red cells and fetuin but was a poor agglutinin for lymphocytes were isolated from seeds of Phaseolus acutifolius. A number of other lectin components with intermediate activity towards these cells was also isolated. All the lectins had very similar amino acid and carbohydrate composition, sedimentation patterns, partial specific volume and molecular weight values of about 116 600 and were thus smaller than the related Phaseolus vulgaris lectins (M_r = 119 000). The lectins contained four subunits with only minor size and charge differences between the lympho- and erythroagglutinating subunits and their electrophoretic mobility in SDS gel electrophoresis was anomalously high. The existence of lympho- and erythroagglutinating subunits in two members of the genus Phaseolus supports their close morphological similarity.     

A galactose-specific lectin from the hemolymph of the pearl oyster, Pinctada fucata martensii

1. A lectin in the serum of Pinctada fucata martensii was purified by a combination of affinity chromatography on Sepharose 4B coupled with bovine submaxillary gland mucine, anion exchange chromatography on Mono Q and gel filtration on Superose 6. 2. The purified lectin was indicated to be homogeneous by polyacrylamide electrophoresis and rechromatography on Mono Q. 3. The purified lectin was approximately 440,000 in molecular weight and was composed of identical subunits with a molecular weight of approximately 20,000. 4. D-galactose and N-acetylgalactosamine gave a 50% inhibition of agglutination of horse erythrocytes by the lectin at 0.3 and 1.2 mM, respectively. 5. The antibody obtained from rabbit immunized with the purified lectin was monospecific to the lectin judged from the hemagglutination blocking test, immunoelectrophoresis and immunoblotting.     

Mapping and identification of the vaccinia virus thymidine kinase gene

The thymidine kinase gene of vaccinia virus (VV) was mapped on the viral genome by using cloned fragments of the viral DNA to hybridize to early viral mRNA. Individual DNA fragments that represented about half of the viral genome were assayed, both for their ability to arrest the cell-free synthesis of active VV thymidine kinase and for their ability to select functional mRNA for the viral enzyme. Both activities were located in HindIII fragment J, which maps near the middle of VV DNA and contains about 2.6% of the genome (4,800 base pairs). This DNA fragment encodes four known early polypeptides, and to determine which of these was thymidine kinase, early VV mRNA was fractionated by sucrose gradient centrifugation and used to direct cell-free synthesis of the active enzyme. The thymidine kinase mRNA cosedimented with several species that encoded polypeptides in the molecular weight range 15,000 to 25,000. Hybridization of these mRNAs to HindIII-J DNA selected a message that directed the synthesis of thymidine kinase and a single polypeptide with an apparent molecular weight of 19,000. The native molecular weight of VV thymidine kinase is about 80,000, so these data indicate that, unlike thymidine kinase from several other sources, the active VV enzyme is probably a tetramer of 19,000-molecular-weight subunits.     

中国鲎凝集素的分离纯化及性质研究

 经N-乙酰氨基葡萄糖交联琼脂糖亲和层析及以交联琼脂糖介质的高效液相分子筛层析,从中国鲎细胞溶解物中分离纯化了一种凝集素,其活性比原料鲎试剂提高128倍。鲎凝集素SDS电泳时表现出分子量为69000,和72000的二个亚基。N-乙酰氨基葡萄糖、D-半乳糖,D-甘露糖及岩藻糖等对鲎凝集素凝集鸡红细胞的活性有显著抑制作用,加热60℃,10分钟可使凝集素活性基本丧失。CaCl_2为凝集素活性所必需。鲎凝集素与肺炎球菌C多糖有沉淀反应。     

Isolation of a mannose-specific lectin from Escherichia coli and its role in the adherence of the bacteria to epithelial cells.

A high molecular weight protein aggregate, which agglutinates yeast cells, human epithelial cells and mouse lymphocytes, was isolated from extracts of Escherichia coli by differential centrifugation and gel filtration. The agglutination is specifically inhibited by d-mannose and its derivatives, the best inhibitor being p-nitrophenyl α-d-mannoside. Sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis showed that the lectin consists of protein subunits with identical M_r of ～36500. The amino acid composition of the purified lectin is different from that reported for the type I pili protein, the K99 antigen and the major outer membrane protein Ia of E. coli. The protein appears to be located on the bacterial surface, and is probably involved in the mannose-specific adherence of E. coli to eukaryotic cells.     

Purification and Characterization of Lectin from Lathyrus sativus

Lectin has been isolated and purified from Lathyrus sativus using ammonium sulphate precipitation followed by affinity chromatography. The molecular weight as determined by HPLC was found to be 42kD. The lectin is a tetramer, consisting of two types of subunits of which the heavier subunit consists of 2 polypeptides of mol wt of about 21 kD and 16 kD while the smaller subunits consists of two polypeptides of about 5kD as revealed by SDS-PAGE. The most potent sugar inhibitor of the Lathyrus lectin was found to be α-methyl D-mannoside. The N-terminal amino acid sequence was similar to that of pea lectin sequence.     

Production of antibody to individual polypeptides derived from purified hepatitis B surface antigen.

Purified preparations of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) were solubilized with sodium dodecyl sulfate and urea under reducing conditions and subsequently fractionated by preparative sodium dodecyl sulfate-urea polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). Pools of the individual fractions eluted from the preparative PAGE were concentrated and purified further by analytical PAGE. Five purified polypeptides were isolated from HBsAg, types adw and ayw, with molecular weights of 19,000, 24,000, 27,000, 35,000, and 40,000. Each preparations was emulsified in Freund complete adjuvant and injected into guinea pigs. Antibody to each HBsAg type was measured by radioimmunoassay. The 19,000 molecular weight polypeptide derived from ayw particles and the 27,000 molecular weight subunit obtained from both types failed to elicit an antibody response. The other three polypeptides derived from the ayw particles elicited group-specific antibody responses. Similar group-specific reactivities were observed in the testing of anti-adw 35,000 and anti-adw 40,000 molecular weight polypeptide sera. However, guinea pigs immunized with the 19,000 and the 24,000 molecular weight polypeptides of the adw type produced antibody that reacted preferentially with adw particles. This indicates that either these subunits carry predominately d determinants or that, because of the low levels of material used for inoculation, no immune response or an undetectable one was elicited to the a or w components.     

Chemical and biological characterization of the galactose binding lectins from Trichosanthes kirilowii root tubers

Three galactose binding isolectins have been isolated from Trichosanthes kirilowii root tubers. Two of the isolectins, TK-I and TK-II, are similar in many aspects including molecular weight, amino acid composition, NH2-terminal amino acid residue, blood group and carbohydrate specificities, immunodiffusion and immunoelectrophoretic behavior, hemagglutinating and insulinomimetic activities, and in possessing subunits with different molecular weights. Compared to TK-I and TK-II, lectin TK-III has a larger molecular weight, subunits with the same molecular weight, a single and distinctive NH2-terminal amino acid residue, a different isoelectric point and lower hemagglutinating activity. The three lectins share common antigenic determinants in their structures. beta-Linked terminal oligosaccharides containing D-galactose inhibit hemagglutination induced by the lectins with a higher potency than alpha-linked oligosaccharides. The lectins are non-mitogenic and did not inhibit the concanavalin-A induced mitogenic response of lymphocytes.