Mammalian Lectin Gene Family

从许多脊椎动物组织中分离到一种可溶性β-半乳糖苷结合凝集素，其亚基相对分子质量约为14,000。凝集素在某些组织中表现出显著的发育调节作用，并在细胞表面和细胞周围的细胞外基质中被检测到，这表明凝集素可能在细胞发育和形态发生中发挥调节作用。最近对人类形式的这种凝集素的研究表明，有几个变种是不同基因的产物。这些发现提出了一种可能性，即这些凝集素像其他凝集素一样，可能具有与其碳水化合物结合位点不同的第二个功能域。他们还提出了这样一种可能性，即这些结构变化在糖共轭结合中起到了调节特异性的作用。这个项目的目的是进一步描述人类中这个基因家族的特征，最终目的是了解它的调节和功能。为此，将分离和测序一系列全长的人类cDNA。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.