Development and Applications of Lectins as Biological Tools in Biomedical Research.
As a new and burgeoning area following genomics and proteomics, glycomics has become a hot issue due to its pivotal roles in many physiological and pathological processes. Glycans are much more complicated than genes or proteins since glycans are highly branched and dynamic. Antibodies and lectins are the two major molecular tools applied for glycan profiling. Though the study of antibodies and lectins started at almost the same time in 1880s, lectins gained much less attention than the antibodies until recent decades when the importance and difficulties of glycomics were realized. The present review summarizes the discovery history of lectins and their biological functions with a special emphasis on their various applications as biological tools. Both older techniques that had been developed in the last century and new technologies developed in recent years, especially lectin microarrays and lectin-based biosensors, are included in this account.
School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong.
Xiuli
X
Dan
Department of Orthopaedics & Traumatology, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong.
Wenlong
W
Liu
School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong.
Tzi Bun
TB
Ng
D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D037102:Lectins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*
D037102:Lectins
hemagglutinin; lectin; lectin histochemistry; lectin microarray; lectin-based biosensor