title: Sequence and specificity of a soluble lactose-binding lectin from Xenopus laevis skin.
abstract: A 16-kDa lactose-binding lectin comprises 5% or more of the soluble protein in Xenopus laevis skin. This lectin is mainly localized in the cytoplasm of granular gland cells. In response to stress, the lectin along with a variety of toxic and antibiotic peptides are released onto the skin surface by holocrine secretion. We have purified the lectin, sequenced tryptic peptides using tandem mass spectrometry and Edman degradation, and isolated full-length cDNA using a deduced oligonucleotide. Comparison of the cDNA and peptide sequences revealed expression of at least two isolectins, which differ in sequence at only two or three amino acids. Comparison of cDNA with complementary message by ribonuclease protection confirmed expression in approximately equal abundance of two nearly identical messages. The major soluble lactose-binding lectin expressed in Xenopus muscle is composed of these same isolectins, but at 100-fold lower levels. Similarities and distinctions in sequence and carbohydrate-binding specificity indicate that this lectin is a novel member of a family of soluble lactose-binding lectins expressed in a wide range of vertebrate tissues.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute, University of California, San Francisco 94143-0984.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Marschal
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Herrmann
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Leffler
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Barondes
authors.forename: D N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Cooper
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D050260:Carbohydrate Metabolism; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D004247:DNA; D037541:Galectin 4; D006388:Hemagglutinins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007785:Lactose; D037102:Lectins; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009132:Muscles / Q000378:metabolism; D009928:Organ Specificity / Q000235:genetics; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D012867:Skin / Q000378:metabolism*; D012995:Solubility; D014982:Xenopus laevis
chemical_list: D037541:Galectin 4; D006388:Hemagglutinins; D037102:Lectins; D004247:DNA; D007785:Lactose