Synopsis
The Properties, Functions, and Applications in Biology and Medicine is a 10-chapter text that deals with the advances in research studies on the properties, functions, and applications of lectins in biology and medicine. The first two chapters consider the historical development, physicochemical properties, isolation, and remarkable specificity toward sugars of lectins. These topics are followed by a discussion on the molecular aspects of protein evolution, with a particular emphasis on lectins, which provide an excellent example of a family of homologous proteins. The following chapters explore the diverse biological activities of lectins and how these properties are utilized for the isolation and characterization of carbohydrate-containing compounds in solution and on cells. A chapter focuses on the functions of lectins in their natural milieu. This text further covers the importance of lectins in nonplant systems as exemplified by lectins that occur in vertebrates, slime molds, and bacteria. The last chapter highlights the nutritional significance of the occurrence of lectins in plant foods such as legumes. This book is an ideal source for organic chemists, protein researchers, and workers in the fields of biology and medicine.
Product Description
Since publication of the first edition in 1989, great strides have been made in several areas of lectin research. Numerous lectins have been isolated from a variety of sources, and their functions in infection, inflammation and immunity, both innate and acquired, have been clarified. In addition, the three-dimensional structures of close to 200 lectins, and of many of their complexes with carbohydrates have been elucidated, providing an insight into the molecular basis of their specificity. As a result, this book is about 470 pages long (three times the size of the first edition), with over 200 figures and some 30 tables. The book starts with an overview of lectin research followed by a survey of the occurrence of lectins in nature and a detailed description of their properties, with emphasis on specificity, structure and interaction with ligands at the atomic level. The biosynthesis and genetics of lectins are then discussed, as are their numerous applications in biology and medicine. A summary of the nutritional effects of lectins follows, and finally their functions in nature are dealt with.
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