The Anti-N Lectin of Bauhinia Purpurea

Summary Seeds of Bauhinia purpurea, var. alba, contain a lectin specific for the N antigen of human erythrocytes. These seeds are available commercially, and from them, by saline extraction and 2 precipitations with alcohol in the cold (plus occasionally the addition of a little melibiose), a routin...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Journal of immunology (1950) Vol. 81; no. 5; pp. 414 - 418
Main Authors Boyd, William C, Everhart, Donald L, McMaster, Marjorie H
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Am Assoc Immnol 01.11.1958
Subjects
Antibodies
Bauhinia
Humans
Lectins
Old Medline
ANTIBODIES
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Summary Seeds of Bauhinia purpurea, var. alba, contain a lectin specific for the N antigen of human erythrocytes. These seeds are available commercially, and from them, by saline extraction and 2 precipitations with alcohol in the cold (plus occasionally the addition of a little melibiose), a routinely usable anti-N reagent can be prepared. This reagent, tested in parallel with a good rabbit anti-N against 265 random bloods, gave the correct result in every case. Dialysis of Bauhinia extracts removes a diffusible substance which is generally present and which is necessary to prevent the lectin from reacting nonspecifically with all human erythrocytes. Various sugars, including galactose and melibiose, will also inhibit this nonspecific reaction. The inhibition reactions point to a close chemical similarity of the Bauhinia-detectable receptor, common to all human erythrocytes, and the B receptor, which is restricted to B and AB.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:0022-1767
1550-6606
DOI:10.4049/jimmunol.81.5.414