Functional Component Isolated from Phaseolus vulgaris Lectin Exerts In Vitro and In Vivo Anti-Tumor Activity Through Potentiation of Apoptosis and Immunomodulation.

Peipei Wang, Xiaohong Leng, Jiaqi Duan, Yue Zhu, Jue Wang, Zirui Yan, Shitong Min, Dapeng Wei, Xia Wang

Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) 2021 Jan 18

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Phytohemagglutinin (PHA), the lectin purified from red kidney bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), is a well-known mitogen for human lymphocyte. Because it has obvious anti-proliferative and anti-tumor activity, PHA may serve as a potential antineoplastic drug in future cancer therapeutics. However, the literature is also replete with data on detrimental effects of PHA including oral toxicity, hemagglutinating activity, and immunogenicity. There is a critical need to evaluate the functional as well as the toxic components of PHAs to assist the rational designs of treatment with it. In this report, we performed SDS-PAGE to identify components of PHA-L, the tetrameric isomer of PHA with four identical L-type subunits, and then characterized biological function or toxicity of the major protein bands through in vitro experiments. It was found that the protein appearing as a 130 kD band in SDS-PAGE gel run under the condition of removal of β-mercaptoethanol from the sample buffer together with omission of a heating step could inhibit tumor cell growth and stimulate lymphocyte proliferation, while most of the 35 kD proteins are likely non-functional impurity proteins and 15 kD protein may be related to hemolytic effect. Importantly, the 130 kD functional protein exhibits promising in vivo anti-tumor activity in B16-F10 melanoma C57 BL/6 mouse models, which may be achieved through potentiation of apoptosis and immunomodulation. Altogether, our results suggest that PHA-L prepared from crude extracts of red kidney bean by standard strategies is a mixture of many ingredients, and a 130 kD protein of PHA-L was purified and identified as the major functional component. Our study may pave the way for PHA-L as a potential anticancer drug.

Citation

Peipei Wang, Xiaohong Leng, Jiaqi Duan, Yue Zhu, Jue Wang, Zirui Yan, Shitong Min, Dapeng Wei, Xia Wang. Functional Component Isolated from Phaseolus vulgaris Lectin Exerts In Vitro and In Vivo Anti-Tumor Activity Through Potentiation of Apoptosis and Immunomodulation. Molecules (Basel, Switzerland). 2021 Jan 18;26(2)