Banana Lectin: A Brief Review

Abstract

Abstract:Lectins are a group of proteins of non-immune origin that recognize and bind to carbohydrates without modifying them. Banana is the common name for both herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. They are indeed a promising source for many medicinal applications. Banana lectins have the potential for inhibiting HIV-1 reverse transcriptase activity, suppressing cancer cell proliferation and stimulating macrophage activities. Nevertheless, compared to other plant lectins, there is relatively little information in the literature on banana lectins, particularly with respect to their structure and biological functions. Herein we focus our review on the structure, functions and exploitable properties of banana lectins.

Engineering a Therapeutic Lectin by Uncoupling Mitogenicity from Antiviral Activity

“…We set out to rationally engineer a plant lectin isolated from the fruit of bananas ( Musa acuminata , BanLec) (Singh et al, 2014), so as to eliminate its mitogenicity while retaining its potent antiviral activity. BanLec is a member of the mannose-specific jacalin-related lectin (mJRL) group that functions as a potent T-cell mitogen (Singh et al, 2014).…”

“…BanLec is a member of the mannose-specific jacalin-related lectin (mJRL) group that functions as a potent T-cell mitogen (Singh et al, 2014). It forms a dimer with two carbohydrate-binding sites (CBS I and CBS II) in each protein subunit (Meagher et al, 2005; Singh et al, 2005).…”

A functional different immune capacity in cattle is associated with higher mastitis incidence

“…Next, we analyzed transcription pathways in PBL after polyclonal stimulation in control and BNP cows to identify possible differences in master transcription factor expression important for different lymphocyte pathways. Signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) induces different T helper (Th) answers in mice and man (24) and therefore we characterized usage of different STAT pathways as a response to immune stimulation in both cow groups.…”

Recent Progress in Electrochemical Biosensors for Glycoproteins

“…Lectins are a family of sugar-binding proteins present in various sources including plants, bacteria, and animals [51,52]. Lectins have been widely used to immobilize sugar-tagged biomolecules onto solid supports because they selectively bind carbohydrate chains of glycoproteins and glycolipids [53,54].…”