Raedler A, Schreiber S
Medical Department, University of Hamburg, Federal Republic of Germany.
Crit Rev Clin Lab Sci. 1988;26(2):153-93. doi: 10.3109/10408368809106861.
During differentiation cells are known to change their biological behavior according to their genotype. This is thought to be accompanied by a modulation of cell surface determinants expressed on the outer cell membrane. Vice versa, cell surface molecules are suggested to mediate extracellular signals to the genome. Most of these molecules integrated in the cell membrane have been proven to be glycoconjugates. The carbohydrate moieties of these molecules can be detected by means of lectins that are characterized by their ability to react specifically with distinct terminal sugar sequences. Thus, lectins have been used as appropriate tools for studying the modulation of functionally important membrane-associated molecules during the differentiation of cells, in particular of B- and T-lymphocytes. Moreover, lectins have been proven to distinguish between differentiated cells and malignant cell clones, according to the hypothesis that transformed cells possess a glycoconjugate profile that corresponds to the stage of differentiation at which they are arrested. Since lectins, like monoclonal antibodies, make it possible to study functionally important molecules that are associated with differentiation and malignancy, they might be of value for diagnostic purposes and, moreover, for analyzing malignant transformation.
在分化过程中，已知细胞会根据其基因型改变其生物学行为。这被认为伴随着细胞膜外表面表达的细胞表面决定簇的调节。反之，细胞表面分子被认为可将细胞外信号介导至基因组。已证实整合于细胞膜中的这些分子大多为糖缀合物。这些分子的碳水化合物部分可通过凝集素进行检测，凝集素的特点是能够与不同的末端糖序列特异性反应。因此，凝集素已被用作研究细胞分化过程中，特别是B淋巴细胞和T淋巴细胞分化过程中功能重要的膜相关分子调节的合适工具。此外，根据转化细胞具有与其停滞的分化阶段相对应的糖缀合物谱这一假说，已证实凝集素可区分分化细胞和恶性细胞克隆。由于凝集素与单克隆抗体一样，能够研究与分化和恶性肿瘤相关的功能重要分子，它们可能在诊断方面具有价值，而且在分析恶性转化方面也具有价值。
