Mammalian Lectin Gene Family

已从许多脊椎动物组织中分离出亚单位分子量约为14000的可溶性β -半乳糖苷结合凝集素。凝集素在某些组织中表现出惊人的发育调节作用，并在细胞表面和周围的细胞外基质中被检测到，这表明它可能在调节细胞发育和形态发生中起作用。最近对这种凝集素的人类形式的研究表明，有几种变体是不同基因的产物。这些发现提出了一种可能性，即这些凝集素和其他凝集素一样，可能具有与碳水化合物结合位点不同的第二个功能域。他们还提出了这些结构变异介导糖缀合物结合特异性的可能性。该项目的目的是进一步表征该基因家族在人类中的特征，最终目的是了解其调控和功能。为此，将对一系列全长的人类cdna进行分离和测序。编码该基因家族成员的人类基因组dna也将被分离和测序。

A soluble beta-galactoside-binding lectin with subunit molecular weight of about 14,000 has been isolated from many vertebrate tissues. The lectin shows striking developmental regulation in certain tissues and has been detected on the surface of cells and in the extracellular matrix surounding them, suggesting possible roles in regulation of cellular development and in morphogenesis. Recent studies with the human form of this lectin indicate that there are several variants which are the products of distinct genes. These findings raise the possibility that these, like other lectins, may have a second functional domain distinct from their carbohydrate binding sites. They also raise the possibility that these structural variations mediate specificity in glycoconjugate binding. The purpose of this project is to further characterize this gene family in humans, with the ultimate aim of understanding its regulation and functions. To this end, a series of full length human cDNAs will be isolated and sequenced. The human genomic DNAs encoding members of this gene family will also be isolated and sequenced.