Lectins from red algae and their biomedical potential

Abstract

Lectins are unique proteins or glycoproteins of nonimmune origin that bind specifically to carbohydrates. They recognise and interact reversibly to either free carbohydrates or glycoconjugates, without modifying their structure. Lectins are highly diverse and widely distributed in nature and have been extensively reported from various red algae species. Numerous red algae species have been reported to possess lectins having carbohydrate specificity towards complex glycoproteins or high-mannose N-glycans. These lectin-glycan interactions further trigger many biochemical responses which lead to their extensive use as valuable tools in biomedical research. Thus, owing to their exceptional glycan recognition property, red algae lectins are potential candidate for inhibition of various viral diseases. Hence, the present report integrates existing information on the red algae lectins, their carbohydrate specificity, and characteristics of purified lectins. Further, the review also reports the current state of research into their anti-viral activity against various enveloped viruses such as HIV, hepatitis, influenza, encephalitis, coronavirus and herpes simplex virus and other biomedical activities such as anti-cancer, anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, antinociceptive and acaricidal activities.

Extraction and Partial Characterization of Lectin from Indonesian Brown Algae Padina australis and Padina minor

“…Based on the qualitative HI assay, both of the P. australis and P. minor extracts did not have an affinity to the various simple sugars tested. This result is in line with previous reports that macroalgae lectins generally do not have an affinity to simple sugars but have more affinity to glycoconjugates (Hung et al, 2015;Mu, Hirayama, Sato, Morimoto, & Hori, 2017;Nagano et al, 2002;Singh & Walia, 2018). Lectincontaining extract of P. australis bond 7 glycoproteins, i.e., thyroglobulin from bovine thyroid gland (BTG), thyroglobulin from porcine thyroid gland (PTG), Asialo-Fetuin (aFe), Asialo-BSM (aBSM), Asialo-PTG (aPTG), Asialo-Tf (aTf), and Asialo-BTG (aBTG), while P. minor extract only bound 3 asialo glycoproteins, i.e.…”

“…Lectin or hemagglutinin is a protein or glycoprotein that specifically and reversibly binds glycans, in the form of free sugar chains or glycoconjugates, i.e., glycoproteins and glycolipids, without changing its structure (Singh & Walia, 2018). Due to its specific interactions with glycans, lectins have gathered much attention as tools in glycobiology and cell biology research, e.g., lectin microarrays, cell selections, blood typing, bacterial typing, and cell sorting (Cummings, Darvill, Etzler, & Hahn, 2017).…”

“…Due to its specific interactions with glycans, lectins have gathered much attention as tools in glycobiology and cell biology research, e.g., lectin microarrays, cell selections, blood typing, bacterial typing, and cell sorting (Cummings, Darvill, Etzler, & Hahn, 2017). Moreover, researches working on lectins exploitation as therapeutic tools are also emerge, e.g., lectins therapy for cancer (Hamid, Masood, Wani, & Rafiq, 2013;Mody, Joshi, & Chaney, 1995;Singh & Walia, 2018), anti-bacterial (Marques et al, 2018;Vasconcelos et al, 2014), anti-fungal (Amano, Katayama, Saito, Ando, & Nagata, 2012;Chikalovets et al, 2015), anti-HIV (Alexandre et al, 2011;Ziólkowska & Wlodawer, 2006), and anti-insects (Hamid et al, 2013;Lam & Ng, 2011).…”

Potent antiviral activity of carbohydrate-specific algal and leguminous lectins from the Brazilian biodiversity

“…39 In our study, AML, MEL and SfL belong to the OAAH lectin family that includes lectins from marine red algae Eucheuma serra (ESA) and Kappaphycus alvarezii (KAA) and cyanobacteria Oscillatoria agardhii (OAA). 39 In our study, AML, MEL and SfL belong to the OAAH lectin family that includes lectins from marine red algae Eucheuma serra (ESA) and Kappaphycus alvarezii (KAA) and cyanobacteria Oscillatoria agardhii (OAA).…”

Antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of Penicillium sp. lectins

“…They are of nonimmune origin [1] and bind reversibly and specifically to free or membrane bound carbohydrate moieties [1]. Lectins are widely distributed in nature and found in all life forms including plants [2], animals [3], algae [4,5], cyanobacteria [6,7], yeasts [8], mushrooms [9] and microfungi [10]. Amongst the microfungi, lectins from Penicillium sp.…”