Mushroom Lectins as Promising Anticancer Substances
Lectins are proteins/glycoproteins of non-immune origin, which are widely distributed in nature. They have at least one non-catalytic domain, which binds reversibly to specific monosaccharides or oligosaccharides. Lectins recognizing sugar moieties in cell walls or cell membranes alter
the membrane physiology and trigger biochemical changes in the cell. Thus, various applications of lectins have been described, for example as tools to identify aberrant glycans expressed by neoplastic cells and as antitumor agents by inducing apoptosis by various mechanisms. In order to widen
applications of anti-tumor lectins, a detailed investigation of their action mechanism is required. Mushrooms are a valuable source of novel lectins with unique specificities and potentials for biotechnological and biomedical applications. This article reviews information on anti-proliferative
activity of mushroom lectins obtained in-vitro and in-vivo. The possible role of lectins as cancer therapeutics is discussed together with the mechanisms underlying the anti-proliferative activity, which may help to exploit these biomolecules as potential novel antitumor drugs in near future.
Keywords: Anticancer agents; Antiproliferative activity; Apoptosis; Cancer; Lectins; Mushrooms
Document Type: Research Article
Publication date: 01 December 2016
- Editorial Board
- Information for Authors
- Subscribe to this Title
- Ingenta Connect is not responsible for the content or availability of external websites
- Access Key
- Free content
- Partial Free content
- New content
- Open access content
- Partial Open access content
- Subscribed content
- Partial Subscribed content
- Free trial content