Handbook of Animal Lectins: Properties and Biomedical Applications

This comprehensive yet concise guide to animal lectins, covers all sources from unicellular protozoa and slime moulds through invertebrates to mammals and birds, and provides essential information to the widest possible readership. The last few years have seen an explosion of interest and research in animal lectins, and this book, which is divided into two parts, provides a compendium of galectins, collectins, selectins, pentraxins and other carbohydrate–binding proteins from throughout the animal kingdom. The first part introduces animal lectins on both phylogenetic and structural bases and outlines their key biomedical applications. The second, and major part, is a quick reference alphabetical directory listing around 170 lectins. Each lectin entry provides, where known, details of its: Isolation Structure Biological activities Tissue and/or subcellular distribution Possible functions Applications A bibliography for each lectin is also included and useful appendices list lectins according to their sugar specificity, characterised lectins of human origin by tissue source and commercial suppliers of animal lectins. This superb book is aimed at basic scientists and clinicians alike, and will be invaluable to both established research workers and newcomers to this area. It will be of particular interest to biochemists, cell biologists, immunologists, oncologists, pharmacologists, medical practitioners and students of medical and biological sciences.