Purification and partial characterization of a fructose-binding lectin from the leaves of Euphorbia helioscopia.

A lectin was purified from leaves of Euphorbia helioscopia, by a combination of ion-exchange and gel filtration chromatography. On ion exchange using a DEAE- cellulose column in 0.2 M phosphate buffer, pH 7.2, the bound protein was eluted with a linear sodium chloride gradient of 0.1 M to 0.5 M. Further purification of the lectin was achieved by gel filtration on Sephadex G-100. Euphorbia helioscopia lectin (EHL) agglutinates only chick erythrocytes, showing no agglutination of all human blood group erythrocytes. The EHL induced hemagglutination is inhibited by fructose. The purified protein showed one band, both in non-denaturing PAGE and SDS-PAGE establishing the charge and size homogeneities of the lectin preparation. The molecular mass of the lectin as indicated by SDS-PAGE was approximately 31 kDa and that estimated from G-100 gel filtration chromatography was about 65 kDa establishing that the lectin is a homodimer. The lectin was stable within a temperature range of 0°C-40°C and exhibited a narrow range of pH stability, being optimally active at around pH 7. EHL also possesses antimicrobial activity and is an inhibitor of bacterial growth particularly Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli.

Antiproliferative activity of Lavatera cashmeriana- protease inhibitors towards human cancer cells.

BACKGROUND: Proteases play a regulatory role in a variety of pathologies including cancer, pancreatitis, thromboembolic disorders, viral infections and many others. One of the possible strategies to combat these pathologies seems to be the use of protease inhibitors. LC-pi I, II, III and IV (Lavatera cashmerian-protease inhibitors) have been found in vitro to strongly inhibit trypsin, chymotrypsin and elastase, proteases contributing to tumour invasion and metastasis, indicated possible anticancer effects. The purpose of this study was to check in vitro anticancer activity of these four inhibitors on human lung cancer cell lines. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In order to assess whether these inhibitors induced in vitro cytoxicity, SRB assay was conducted with THP-1 (leukemia), NCIH322 (lung) and Colo205, HCT-116 (colon) lines. RESULTS: LC-pi I significantly inhibited the cell proliferation of all cells tested and also LC-pi II was active in all except HCT-116. Inhibition of cell growth by LC-pi III and IV was negligible. IC50 values of LC-pi I and II for NCIH322, were less compared to other cell lines suggesting that lung cancer cells are more inhibited. CONCLUSION: These investigations might point to future preventive as well as curative solutions using plant protease inhibitors for various cancers, especially in the lung, hence warranting their further investigation.

Isolation and antiproliferative activity of Lotus corniculatus lectin towards human tumour cell lines.

The objective of the study was to investigate the anti cancer activity of a lectin isolated from Lotus corniculatus seeds. A tetrameric 70kDa galactose specific lectin was purified using two step simple purification protocol which involved affinity chromatography on AF-BlueHC650M and gel filtration on Sephadex G-100. The lectin was adsorbed on AF-BlueHC650M and desorbed using 1M NaCl in the starting buffer. Gel filtration on Sephadex G-100 yielded a major peak absorbance that gave two bands of 15kDa and 20kDa in SDS PAGE. Hemagglutination activity was completely preserved, when the temperature was in the range of 20-60°C. However, drastic reduction in activity occurred at temperatures above 60°C. Full hemagglutination activity was retained at ambient pH 4-12. Thereafter no activity was observed above pH 13. Hemaglutination of the lectin was inhibited by d-galactose. The lectin showed a strong antiproliferative activity towards human leukemic (THP-1) cancer cells followed by lung cancer (HOP62) cells and HCT116 with an IC50 of 39µg/ml and 50µg/ml and 60µg/ml respectively. Flow cytometry analysis showed an increase in the percentage of cells in sub G0G1 phase confirming that Lotus corniculatus lectin induced apoptosis. Morphological observations showed that Lotus corniculatus lectin (LCL) treated THP-1 cells displayed apparent apoptosis characteristics such as nuclear fragmentation, appearance of membrane enclosed apoptotic bodies and DNA fragmentation. Lotus corniculatus lectin (LCL) effectively inhibits the cell migration in a dose dependent manner as indicated by the wound healing assay.