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35 years in plant lectin research: a journey from basic science to applications in agriculture and medicine.

ABSTRACT: Plants contain an extended group of lectins differing from each other in their molecular structures, biochemical properties and carbohydrate-binding specificities. The heterogeneous group of plant lectins can be classified in several families based on the primary structure of the lectin domain. All proteins composed of one or more lectin domains, or having a domain architecture including one or more lectin domains in combination with other protein domains can be defined as lectins. Plant lectins reside in different cell compartments, and depending on their location will encounter a large variety carbohydrate structures, allowing them to be involved in multiple biological functions. Over the years lectins have been studied intensively for their carbohydrate-binding properties and biological activities, which also resulted in diverse applications. The present overview on plant lectins especially focuses on the structural and functional characteristics of plant lectins and their applications for crop improvement, glycobiology and biomedical research.

SUBMITTER: Van Damme EJM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8383723 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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35 years in plant lectin research: a journey from basic science to applications in agriculture and medicine.

Van Damme Els J M EJM

Glycoconjugate journal 20210824 1

Plants contain an extended group of lectins differing from each other in their molecular structures, biochemical properties and carbohydrate-binding specificities. The heterogeneous group of plant lectins can be classified in several families based on the primary structure of the lectin domain. All proteins composed of one or more lectin domains, or having a domain architecture including one or more lectin domains in combination with other protein domains can be defined as lectins. Plant lectins ...[more]

PMID: 34427812

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Project description:ProblemUnderstanding and communicating medical advances driven by basic research, and acquiring foundational skills in critically appraising and communicating translational basic research literature that affects patient care, are challenging for medical students to develop.ApproachThe authors developed a mandatory course from 2012 to 2018 at Texas A&M University College of Medicine to address this problem. Medical Student Grand Rounds (MSGR) trains first-year students to find, critically assess, and present primary research literature about self-selected medically relevant topics. With basic science faculty mentoring, students completed milestones culminating in oral presentations. Students learned to search literature databases and then choose a clinical subject using these skills. They outlined the clinical subject area background and a mechanistic research topic into a clinical problem based on deeper evaluation of primary research literature. "Mechanistic" was defined in this context as providing experimental evidence that explained the "how" and "why" underlying clinical manifestations of a disease. Students received evaluations and feedback from mentors about discerning the quality of information and synthesizing information on their topics. Finally, students prepared and gave oral presentations, emphasizing the primary literature on their topics.OutcomesIn the early stages of the course development, students had difficulty critically assessing and evaluating research literature. Mentored training by research-oriented faculty, however, dramatically improved student perceptions of the MSGR experience. Mentoring helped students develop skills to synthesize ideas from basic research literature. According to grades and self-evaluations, students increased proficiency in finding and interpreting research articles, preparing and delivering presentations, and understanding links among basic and translational research and clinical applications.Next stepsThe authors plan to survey fourth-year students who have completed MSGR about their perceptions of the course in the context of clinical experiences in medical school to guide future refinements.

Dataset Information

35 years in plant lectin research: a journey from basic science to applications in agriculture and medicine.

Publications

35 years in plant lectin research: a journey from basic science to applications in agriculture and medicine.

Similar Datasets

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