Cytoplasmic/nuclear plant lectins: a new story

Plant lectins comprise a widespread group of carbohydrate-binding proteins that show a marked heterogeneity with respect to their molecular structure, sugar-binding specificity and temporal and spatial regulation. Until recently, the role of most lectins was associated with their binding to foreign...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Trends in plant science 2004-10, Vol.9 (10), p.484-489
Main Authors: Van Damme, Els J.M., Barre, Annick, Rougé, Pierre, Peumans, Willy J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analytical, structural and metabolic biochemistry
Binding and carrier proteins
Biological and medical sciences
carbohydrate-binding proteins
cell nucleus
Cell Nucleus - physiology
cytoplasm
Cytoplasm - physiology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
lectins
literature reviews
Plant Lectins - classification
Plant Lectins - physiology
Proteins
signal transduction
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Summary:Plant lectins comprise a widespread group of carbohydrate-binding proteins that show a marked heterogeneity with respect to their molecular structure, sugar-binding specificity and temporal and spatial regulation. Until recently, the role of most lectins was associated with their binding to foreign glycans in either recognition and/or defence-related phenomena. Over the past few years, evidence has accumulated to support the idea that when plants are stimulated by specific biotic or abiotic stimuli they respond through the expression of cytoplasmic and/or nuclear plant lectins. The location and the regulation of the expression of these lectins indicate that lectins are involved in specific endogenous protein–carbohydrate interactions. These novel findings led to the challenging idea that lectins might be involved in cellular regulation and signalling.
ISSN:1360-1385
1878-4372
DOI:10.1016/j.tplants.2004.08.003