Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 15.1
Brief historical account of lectinology (from [11], extended, updated and modifi ed).
1860
Observation of blood ' coagulation ' by rattlesnake (
Crotalus durissus
) venom (S.W. Mitchell)
1888
Detection of erythrocyte agglutination by a toxic protein fraction from castor beans (termed ricin)
and seeds of related plants (H. Stillmark)
1890
Detection of a toxic lectin in the bark of black locust (
Robinia pseudoacacia
) (O. Power,
O. Cambier)
1891
Toxic plant agglutinins applied as model antigens (P. Ehrlich)
1898
Introduction of the term ' haemagglutinin ' or ' phytohaemagglutinin ' for plant proteins that
agglutinate red blood cells (M. Elfstrand)
1902
Detection of bacterial agglutinins (R. Kraus, S. Ludwig) and demonstration that blood 'coagulation'
by snake venom observed in 1860 (seven to nine decades later shown to depend on the presence
of a C-type lectin) was due to cell agglutination but not to blood clotting (S. Flexner,
H. Noguchi)
1906
Detection of an agglutinin in bovine serum (later characterized as the C-type lectin conglutinin)
by use of activated complement-coated erythrocytes (J. Bordet, F.P. Gay); detection of a
hemagglutinin in mushrooms (
Amanita
spp.) (W.W. Ford)
1907/09
Detection of nontoxic agglutinins in plants, of their nature as proteins and of 'deagglutination'
of erythrocytes by hog gastric mucin (K. Landsteiner, H. Raubitschek)
1913
Use of intact cells for the purifi cation of the agglutinin ricin (R. Kobert)
1919
Crystallization of a globulin from jack bean, concanavalin A, which was later defi ned as lectin
and used in pioneering studies (please see below) (J.B. Sumner)
1935/36
Concanavalin A identifi ed as jack bean hemagglutinin; precipitation of starch, glycogen and
mucins by concanavalin A defi nes carbohydrate as ligand and points to 'a carbohydrate group in
a protein' as binding partner on erythrocytes (J.B. Sumner, S.F. Howell)
1941
Detection of viral agglutinins (G.K. Hirst, L. McClelland, R. Hare)
1944
Description of anti - 0(H) hemagglutinating activity in serum of
Anguilla anguilla
(B. Jonsson),
following earlier work on a similar activity in
Anguilla japonica
(S. Sugishita; 1935)
1947/48
Detection of plant agglutinins specifi c for the human histo-blood group A (W.C. Boyd, K.O.
Renkonen), 'good keeping qualities' and low 'cost of producing them' are emphasized as
advantageous properties
1952
Carbohydrate nature of histo-blood group H(0) determinant proven by eel serum-mediated
agglutination of respective erythrocytes and its
α
-
L
- fucose - dependent inhibition (W.M. Watkins,
W.T.J. Morgan)
1954
Introduction of the term ' lectin ' for plant (antibody - like) agglutinins, primarily for those which
are specifi c for a distinct histo-blood group (W.C. Boyd)
