• KSBB Journal
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.578-584
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• 1999

The lectin was purified through 0.15 M NaCl extraction, ammonium sulfate precipitation, sepharose 4B affinity chromatography and gel filtration using sephadex G-150 from the leaves of Visum album collected in Mt. Duk Yu. The final gel filtration step resulted in 11.64 folds purification with 0.14% of recovery yield. We also performed biochemical characterization of the purified Visum album lectin. HPLC analysis of lectin purified by gel filtration revealed a singel peak. The analysis of the purified lectin by SDS-PAGE showed a tetramer composed of two identical subunits with molecular weights of 32 and 30 kDa. The lectin was a glycoprotein containing 14.4% carbohydrate, which consist of glucose, fructose, arabinose and xylose, and the amino acids such as phenylalanine, lysine and tyrosine. The purified lectin agglutinated human red blood cell types with similar potency, but when tested against red blood cells from mouse, bovine, rabbit, chicken and porcine, significant difference in potency were observed. Hemaggluting activity was inhibited by D-galactose, D-mannose, D-lactose and D-raffinose, but not by D-glucose, D-glucosamine, D-mannosamine, L-fructose, D-xylose, D-arabinose, D-galacturonic acid, D-fructose, L-rhamnose and N-acetyl-D-galactosamine. The optimal pH and thermal stability of the purified lectin were pH 4.0-7.0 and 20-5$0^{\circ}C$, respectively.