Identification, cloning, and characterization of two N-acetylgalactosamine-binding lectins from the albumen gland of Helix pomatia.

ABSTRACT: Helix pomatia agglutinin (HPA), the lectin from the albumen gland of the Roman snail, has been used in histochemical studies relating glycosylation changes to the metastatic potential of solid tumors. To facilitate the use of HPA in a clinical (diagnostic) setting, detailed analysis of the lectin, including cloning and recombinant production of HPA, is required. A combination of isoelectric focusing, amino acid sequence analysis, and cloning revealed two polypeptides in native HPA preparations (HPAI and HPAII), both consistent with GalNAc-binding lectins of the H-type family. Pairwise sequence alignment showed that HPAI and HPAII share 54% sequence identity whereas molecular modeling using SWISS-MODEL suggests they are likely to adopt similar tertiary structure. The inherent heterogeneity

SUBMITTER: Markiv A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3121508 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature