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Entamoeba histolytica lectins contain unique 6-Cys or 8-Cys chitin-binding domains
Katrina Van Dellen1, Sudip K Ghosh, Phillips W Robbins
1Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston University School of Dental Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
Abstract:
The Jacob lectin, the most abundant glycoprotein in the cyst wall of Entamoeba invadens, contains five unique 6-Cys chitin-binding domains (CBDs). We identified Entamoeba histolytica and Entamoeba dispar genes encoding Jacob homologues, each of which contains two predicted 6-Cys CBDs. A unique 8-Cys CBD was found at the N termini of the E. histolytica chitinase and three other predicted lectins, called Jessie 1 to Jessie 3. The CBDs of four E. histolytica lectins (Jacob, chitinase, and Jessies 2 and 3) were expressed in secretory vesicles of transfected amebae and shown to bind to particulate chitin.