title: Modular organization of carbohydrate recognition domains in animal lectins.
abstract: In spite of the great diversity of animal lectins, a common characteristic is their ability to bind sugars by means of discrete, modular carbohydrate recognition domains, CRDs. Three different groups of animal lectins-galectins, P-type and C-type lectins- have different types of CRDs which they arrange in a number of combinations, in three dimensions, in order to increase the affinity for oligosaccharides associated with glycoconjugates. The necessity of combining multiple CRDs in a native lectin molecule in order to increase the affinity for multiple ligands is of great importance physiologically, since many of the carbohydrate structures associated with proteins exist in a variety of different conformations. Recent work has clarified the structural basis for carbohydrate recognition by some of these lectins.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Kishore
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Eggleton
authors.forename: K B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Reid
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites; D002241:Carbohydrates; D004705:Endocytosis; D006801:Humans; D037102:Lectins / Q000737:chemistry*; D008322:Mammals; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008961:Models, Structural
chemical_list: D002241:Carbohydrates; D037102:Lectins