Potencial biotecnológico de lectinas: indução de apoptose em células A549, efeito pró-cicatrizante em feridas experimentais e análise de toxicidade sobre Artemia sp.

Abstract

This work evaluated the biotechnological potential of lectins in the induction of apoptosis of neoplastic cells; the effect on wound healing in a murine model (in vivo) and established the level of toxicity on Artemia sp. Lectins are proteins or glycoproteins ubiquitously distributed in nature, being found from bacteria to humans. Since carbohydrates can act as mediators of biological information, the interaction with lectins can trigger some biologically important effect. To verify the role of lectins in the induction of apoptosis, A549 cells (lung carcinoma) were grown for 1 hour with lectins isolated from seeds of Canavalia ensiformis (ConA), C. brasiliensis (ConBr), C. boliviana (ConBol), C. grandiflora (Cgran) and C. gladiata (CGL) labeled with FITC. In addition, the relative gene expression of p53, Bax, Bcl-2 and caspase 9 was also evaluated when the cells were cultured with ConA, ConBr and ConBol. The data showed that all lectins interacted with A549 cells. Nevertheless, p53 and Bax had no significant change. Unlike, the expression of BCL-2 was down-regulated while caspase 9 was up-regulated by treatment with lectins. Concerning the pro-healing potential, the lectin isolated from the red alga Bryothamnion seafortii (BS) was tested by topical treatment of skin lesions. The data showed that BS improved the quality of healing, probably through the induction of fibroblast proliferation. Finally, the lethality test of Artemia sp. was carried out to determine the toxicity of some Diocleinae lectins. ConBr is the most toxic lectin against Artemia, while ConA is the least toxic, and ConBol, ConM, ConGr and CGL exhibit intermediate levels of toxicity.