Publications by authors named "Beatriz T Freitas"

Platymiscium floribundum lectin (PFL), a mannose/N-acetyl-D-glucosamine-specific lectin, was isolated from P. floribundum seeds using Sepharose-mannose affinity media chromatography. PFL is a glycoprotein that is a potent agglutinin for rabbit erythrocytes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Lectins are mainly described as simple carbohydrate-binding proteins. Previous studies have tried to identify other binding sites, which possible recognize plant hormones, secondary metabolites, and isolated amino acid residues. We report the crystal structure of a lectin isolated from Canavalia gladiata seeds (CGL), describing a new binding pocket, which may be related to pathogen resistance activity in ConA-like lectins; a site where a non-protein amino-acid, alpha-aminobutyric acid (Abu), is bound.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A lectin from Canavalia maritima seeds (ConM) was purified and submitted to crystallization experiments. The best crystals were obtained using the vapour-diffusion method at a constant temperature of 293 K and grew in 7 d. A complete structural data set was collected to 2.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Here, we report the crystallographic study of a lectin from Canavalia maritima seeds (ConM) and its relaxant activity on vascular smooth muscle, to provide new insights into the understanding of structure/function relationships of this class of proteins. ConM was crystallized and its structure determined by standard molecular replacement techniques. The amino acid residues, previously suggested incorrectly by manual sequencing, have now been determined as I17, I53, S129, S134, G144, S164, P165, S187, V190, S169, T196, and S202.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The seed lectin from Canavalia gladiata was purified and crystallized. Orthorhombic crystals belonging to space group C222(1) grew within three weeks at 293 K using the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method. Using synchrotron X-ray radiation, a complete structural data set was collected at 2.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF