Purificação e caracterização de CiL-2, uma nova lectina isolada da alga marinha verde Codium isthmocladum Vickers

Abstract

Lectins are ubiquitous proteins or glycoproteins with at least one non-catalytic domain binding reversibly to a specific mono- or oligosaccharide. Lectins are ubiquitously distributed in plants, animals and microorganisms. Marine algal lectins have been isolated and characterized from only a few species and at a much slower pace since the first report, more than 40 years ago, of the haemagglutinating activity in these organisms. This paucity is mainly due to difficulties in obtaining sufficient material for study. However, among characterized lectins, proteins observed with different biochemical characteristics. Lectins from genus Codium have been isolated and characterized in some detail. In general, have specificity for GalNAc and/or GlcNAc and glycoproteins mucin, fetuin and thyroglobulin, have no requirement for metal ions and were composed by low molecular subunits and may present oligomerization. The present work deals with the purification and characterization of two lectins (CiL-1 and CiL-2) from green marine alga Codium isthmocladum, compare their characteristics and evaluate the ability in agglutinate bacterial cells and toxicity against Artemia. The lectins was purified by a combination of ammonium sulphate precipitation and ion-exchange chromatography on a DEAE-Sephacel column. The main differences observed were the metal dependence, oligomerization state and thermostability. The amino acid sequence of CiL-2 showed no similarity with CiL-1 or other lectins from protein data bank. Only CiL-1 was able to agglutinate bacterial cells whereas CiL-2 showed toxicity against Artemia after 48 hours. In the evaluation of lectin interaction, the data suggest that the CiL-2 recognizes the glycoproteins present in the microcrustacean digest tract. The work has shown that the marine green alga has at least two different lectins with differences in amino acid sequences, biochemical characteristics and biological response.