Evidence that Nectin-3 is the soybean agglutinin binding protein on rat corneal endothelium cell surfaces.

The means by which the lectin soybean agglutinin (SBA) binds to the corneal endothelium cell surface following explantation into organ culture was investigated using Sprague-Dawley rats. SBA binding does not occur in freshly isolated and fixed rat corneal endothelium. However, after 48 h in organ culture, SBA binding occurs in a punctate pattern that clearly outlines all endothelial cells of the tissue monolayer.