Plant Lectins in Therapeutic and Diagnostic Cancer Research
- 1. School of Nutritional and Environmental Sciences, University of Shizuoka, Japan
- 2. Faculty of Health Promotional Sciences, Tokoha University, Japan
Abstract
Lectins are proteins or glycoprotein’s of non-immune origin that exhibit specific
binding affinity for the carbohydrate moiety of glycol-conjugates. Several plant lectins
have been shown to induce cell death in cancer cells, suggesting that these molecules
may have applications in cancer treatments. Cancer cells are known to express and/
or secrete glycol-conjugates with an aberrant glycan structure. Thus, lectins may detect
such changes, leading to their use in cancer diagnosis and cancer-specific treatment.
Mistletoe lectins are representative of an anticancer drug target, and lentil lectin
has been shown to have diagnostic applications in hepatocellular carcinoma. In this
review, we describe recent progress in lectin researches, with special emphasis on the
applications of plant lectins in human cancer diagnosis and therapy