Distinct binding patterns of fucose-specific lectins from Biomphalaria alexandrina and Lotus tetragonolobus to murine lymphocyte subsets

A dynamic invertible intramolecular charge-transfer fluorescence probe: real-time monitoring of mitochondrial ATPase activity

A dynamic invertible intramolecular charge-transfer (ICT) process could provide abundant response signals for real-time monitoring in living organisms. Herein, based on dynamic invertible ICT, we have reported a cancer cell-targeted fluorescence probe (OPM) for mitochondrial ATPase activity. Due to its abundant response signals, OPM could real-time monitor mitochondrial ATPase activity during the cancer apoptosis process, successfully.

The selective expression of distinct fucosylated glycoproteins on murine T and B lymphocyte subsets

The putative expression of distinct terminally fucosylated glycoconjugates among murine lymphocyte subpopulations was sought using Ulex europaeus agglutinin-I (UEA-I) and Anguilla anguilla agglutinin (AAA), each with a distinctive primary binding preference to type II and type I blood group H oligosaccharide determinants, respectively. In newly born and adult mice, direct labeling of isolated lymphocyte subsets in suspension, as well as immunohistochemical assays were indicative of the age-regulated co-expression of the UEA-I-reactive ligand among thymic epithelial cells and a subset of the mature (PNA-), medullary thymocytes. In the spleen, UEA-I-ligand expression was selectively confined to a subset of the CD4+ T lymphocytes scattered around red pulp sinuses in newly born mice, but distinctively localized within the T cell-dependent periarteriolar lymphoid sheath compartment in adult mice. Among thymocytes of adult mice, two-dimensional Western blots demonstrated the expression of the UEA-I-reactive ligand among multiple isoforms of three major 50, 114 and 180kDa acidic glycoproteins, of which, heterogeneous weight and charge variants of the 114kDa component were also evident among splenocytes. The expression of the AAA-reactive ligand was, on the other hand, restricted to a single major 120 kDa acidic glycoprotein, in addition to a minor molecular weight variant of 115kDa, associated with a subset of immature IgM+ B lymphocytes localized within the red pulp, in both newly born and adult mice. The significance of these findings is discussed in relation to mechanisms that govern lymphocyte maturation, selection and migration.

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of an anti-H(O) lectin from Lotus tetragonolobus seeds

The seed lectin from Lotus tetragonolobus (LTA) has been crystallized. The best crystals grew over several days and were obtained using the vapour-diffusion method at a constant temperature of 293 K. A complete structural data set was collected at 2.00 angstroms resolution using a synchrotron-radiation source. LTA crystals were found to be monoclinic, belonging to space group P2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 68.89, b = 65.83, c = 102.53 angstroms, alpha = gamma = 90, beta = 92 degrees. Molecular replacement yielded a solution with a correlation coefficient and R factor of 34.4 and 51.6%, respectively. Preliminary analysis of the molecular-replacement solution indicates a new quaternary association in the LTA structure. Crystallographic refinement is under way.