Abstract
Lectins are (glyco)proteins capable of reversibly binding to specific
carbohydrates, thus having various functions and applications. Plant
lectins are the best studied, and the Leguminoseae family is highlighted
in a number of published works, especially species of the Papilionoideae
subfamily. Dalbergieae is one of the tribes in this subfamily comprising
49 genera and over 1300 species. From this tribe, about 26 lectins were
studied, among which we can highlight the Arachis hypogaea lectin,
widely used in cancer studies. Dalbergieae lectins demonstrate various
carbohydrate specificities and biological activities including
anti-inflammatory, vasorelaxant, nociceptive, antibacterial, antiviral
among others. Structurally, these lectins are quite similar in their
three-dimensional folding but present significant differences in
oligomerization patterns and in the conservation of
carbohydrate-recognition domain. Despite the existence of structural
data from some lectins, only sparse literature has reported on this
tribe's diversity, not to mention the range of biological effects,
determined through specific assays. Therefore, this work will review the
most important studies on Dalbergieae lectins and their potential
biomedical applications. (C) 2018 Published by Elsevier B.V.
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