Journal
GENE
Volume 411, Issue 1-2, Pages 46-58Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.gene.2008.01.003
Keywords
lectin; gastropod mollusk; hemocyte; Bge cell line; innate immunity
Categories
Funding
- NIAID NIH HHS [R56 AI015503, R01 AI015503, T32 AI007414, AI30026, R01 AI015503-29, AI015503, N01AI30026, R01 AI015503-30, R01 AI015503-28] Funding Source: Medline
Ask authors/readers for more resources
In the present study, a tandem-repeat type galectin was characterized from an embryonic cell line (Bge) and circulating hemocytes of the snail Biomphalaria glabrata, intermediate host of the human blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni. The predicted B. glabrata galectin (BgGal) protein of 32 kDa possessed 2 carbohydrate recognition domains, each displaying 6 of 8 conserved amino acids involved in galactoside-binding activity. A recombinant BgGal (rBgGal) demonstrated hemagglutinating activity against rabbit erythrocytes, which was specifically inhibited by galactoside-binding sugars (lacNAc/lac>galNAc/gal). Although native galectin was immunolocalized in the cytoplasm of Bge cells and the plasma membrane of a subset of snail hemocytes (60%), it was not detected in cell-free plasma by Western blot analysis. The findings that rBgGal selectively recognizes the schistosome-related sugar, lacNAc, and strongly binds to hemocytes and the tegument of S. mansoni sporocysts in a sugar-inhibitable fashion suggest that hemocyte-bound galectin may be serving as a pattern recognition receptor for this, or other pathogens possessing appropriate sugar ligands. Based on molecular and functional features, BgGal represents an authentic galectin, the first to be fully characterized in the medically-important molluscan Class Gastropoda. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available