Lectin

A lectin is a protein that binds specific carbohydrate structures without catalyzing changes to them. Some plant lectins, including those in raw or undercooked beans, can cause illness.

Carbohydrate recognition: The selective binding of proteins or other molecules to particular carbohydrate structures. Lectins recognize carbohydrates through selective, noncatalytic binding.
Phytohemagglutinin: A lectin in common beans, especially red kidney beans, that can cause gastrointestinal illness when inadequately cooked. It is the best-known foodborne hazard among bean lectins.
Monosaccharide: A single sugar unit that cannot be hydrolyzed into a simpler carbohydrate. Monosaccharides are the basic units within lectin-binding glycans.
Selectin: A cell-adhesion protein that binds specific carbohydrate structures, especially during immune-cell recruitment. Selectins are animal carbohydrate-binding proteins specialized for cell adhesion.
William C. Boyd: An American immunochemist who helped establish the study of blood-group-specific plant agglutinins. Boyd's work helped connect lectin activity with specific blood-group sugars.
Glycan: A chain or branched structure made of sugar molecules linked together. Glycans provide many of the specific structures that lectins bind.
Lectin affinity chromatography: A separation method that uses immobilized lectins to capture molecules bearing matching carbohydrate structures. Lectin binding can isolate or analyze glycoproteins with particular glycans.
Glycosidic bond: A covalent bond linking a sugar to another molecule, including another sugar. Bond positions and orientations help give glycans distinct shapes.
Antibody: An immune protein that binds a specific antigen and can help neutralize or mark it. Unlike lectins, antibodies are generated by adaptive immune responses to particular antigens.
Karl O. Renkonen: A Finnish scientist whose research demonstrated blood-group-specific agglutination by plant extracts. His findings helped establish that plant agglutinins recognize distinct cell-surface carbohydrates.

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