Lectin from the Body Walls of Black Sea Cucumber (Holothuria atra Jaeger)
Elmer-Rico E. Mojica and Florinia E. Merca
Institute of Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences, University of the Philippines
Los Baños, College, Laguna
corresponding author: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
ABSTRACT
A survey of lectin activity was made on the crude extracts of 15 species of locally available marine invertebrates. Thirteen species were found to show lectin activity. The body wall of Holothuria atra Jaeger, which had the highest lectin activity, was chosen for further examination. Lectin was extracted from the body walls of black sea cucumber (Holothuria atra Jaeger) using Tris buffer saline (TBS) pH 7.5 containing 0.15 M NaCl and purified by ammonium sulfate fractionation and gel chromatography using Sephadex G-200. The isolated lectin was non-blood type specific as it agglutinated erythrocytes of all human blood types (A, B, AB, O) and animal erythrocytes (calf, carabao, chicken and goat). Addition of trypsin and calcium ions increased the agglutinating activity of both lectins. The isolated lectin was found to be glycoprotein containing 0.50% total sugar. Based on gel chromatography, the estimated molecular weight of lectin from the body wall is 439 kD. SDS-PAGE gave two protein bands for the isolated lectin with molecular weights estimated to be 113 kD and 77 kD .
INTRODUCTION
Lectins are carbohydrate-binding proteins or glycoproteins of non-immune origin, which are able to agglutinate cells and precipitate polysachaccharides and glycoconjugates (Goldstein et al. 1980). They are of great interest because of various applications. Their carbohydrate-binding specificity enables their use in cell separation techniques, in isolation and purification procedures in biochemistry, cell biology, pharmacology, immunology and other related areas. It has beenused in the isolation, purification and structural studies of carbohydrate-. . . . . .
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