Biological Activities of the Lectin, Abrin-a, Against Human Lymphocytes and Cultured Leukemic Cell Lines

Abstract

The cytoagglutination by abrin-a against human cultured cell lines derived from acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and human peripheral blood lymphocytes obtained from normal adults and from patients with adult T cell leukemia (ATL) was investigated. Among acute T lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) cell lines, abrin-a showed strong cytoagglutination against relatively differentiated cell lines, such as Jurkat and CCRF-HSB-2. Among acute B lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) cell lines, abrin-a strongly agglutinated an immature cell line, NALM6. In comparison with ALL cell lines, cytoagglutination by abrin-a against normal lymphocytes was weak. Abrin-a showed higher cytoagglutination against lymphocytes derived from ATL than lymphocytes derived from normal adults. In connection with the cytoagglutination, abrin-a-induced cytotoxicity against human cultured leukemic cell lines was evaluated. In proportion to the extent of cytoagglutination, abrin-a induced cytotoxicity in Jurkat, CCRF-HSB-2, MOLT-4, RPMI8402, and BALL-1 as well. Although CCRF-CEM and BALM-1 were both weakly agglutinated by abrin-a, these cell lines were very sensitive to the abrin-a-induced cytotoxicity. NALM6 was strongly agglutinated by abrin-a, but abrin-a exhibited less strong cytotoxicity against this cell line. These results suggest the feasible application of abrin-a as a tool to distinguish the human leukemic cells and its potential for clinical application.

Antitumor and HIV‐1 Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitory Activities of a Hemagglutinin and a Protease Inhibitor from Mini‐Black Soybean

“…Some hemagglutinins have been shown to suppress HIV replication [45] and reduce HIV infectivity [46] and infections [47] while other hemagglutinins inhibit the retroviral reverse transcriptase [48, 49]. The hemagglutinin also exerts its potent antiproliferative activity against hepatoma HepG2 and breast cancer MCF-7 cells, the findings are in line with previous reports on the antiproliferative/antitumor activity of other hemagglutinins [17, 47–56]. Lectins and lectin-containing extracts induce apoptosis [57] and regulate the expression of apoptotic genes in cancer cells [58, 59].…”

Lectins as Bioactive Plant Proteins: A Potential in Cancer Treatment

“…Abrin-a presented greater cytoagglutination against human cultured cell lines derived from acute lymphoblastic leukemia and adult T-cell leukemia and presented weak agglutination against normal lymphocytes (Moriwaki et al, 2000).…”

Extraction of leukemia specific glycan motifs in humans by computational glycomics

“…25 Briefly, the cells for assay were washed with PBS (À) three times and re-suspended into PBS (À) to a concentration of 1.5 · 10 6 cells/mL. The cell suspension of leukemic cells or normal leukocytes and PBS (À) were placed into the sample and reference cuvettes, respectively, and left until the baseline at 600 nm became constant by stirring.…”