LECTIN

Lectin

The lectins are carbohydrate-binding proteins that are highly specific for sugar moieties, particularly, the high specificity of plant lectins for foreign glycoconjugates . They play a role in the biological recognition phenomena involving cells and proteins. It is hypothesized that some hepatitis C viral glycoproteins attach to C-type lectins on the host cell surface for infection. Lectins may be disabled by specific mono- and oligosaccharides, which bind to ingested lectins from grains, legume, nightshade plants and dairy; binding can prevent their attachment to the carbohydrates within the cell membrane.

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lectin

Noun

  1. Any of a class of plant proteins that bind specific carbohydrates.


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: lectin
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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