Aline C Brando-Lima, Roberta F Saldanha-Gama, Cristiane Ribeiro Pereira, Christina Gaspar Villela, André Luiz Franco Sampaio, Ana C O Monteiro-Moreira, Maria das Graças M O Henriques, Renato A Moreira, Christina Barja-Fidalgo
The mechanisms involved in the mitogenic effect of lectins are not fully understood and are thought to involve a cascade of intracellular signals related to T cell receptor activation. This study shows that frutalin, the alpha-D-galactose-binding lectin from Artocarpus incisa seeds, is a potent mitogenic activator of human lymphocytes. This effect is inhibited by D-galactose and PI3K inhibitors, and is accompanied by an increase in IL-2 receptor expression and by a PI3K-dependent IL-2 gene expression and IL-2 protein synthesis...
March 2006: International Immunopharmacology