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Published on: September 21, 2012
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Microbial Lectin-Targeting Mucus: A Glycobioinformatic Approach
Frédérique Lisacek1,2,3, Boris Schnider4,5, David Ohayon6
1Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Geneva, Switzerland. frederique.lisacek@sib.swiss.
Methods in Molecular Biology (Clifton, N.J.)
|June 11, 2025
Summary
Microbial lectins bind to human mucin glycans due to co-evolution. The UniLectin portal offers databases like UniLectin3D and LectomeXplore to study these interactions and identify microbial lectins.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Glycobiology
- Bioinformatics
Background:
- Mucins are key host-pathogen interaction sites.
- Microbial surface glycans act as receptors for host proteins.
- Lectins mediate specific binding between microbes and host mucins.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe the co-evolutionary specificity of microbial lectins for human mucin epitopes.
- To introduce UniLectin portal databases for studying microbial-mucin interactions.
- To illustrate the use of UniLectin3D and LectomeXplore for research.
Main Methods:
- Database exploration of microbial-mucin interactions.
- Structural analysis of lectin-glycan recognition using UniLectin3D.
- Genomic analysis for identifying lectins in mucin-associated microbiomes via LectomeXplore.
Main Results:
- Specificity of microbial lectins towards mucin epitopes is shaped by co-evolution.
- UniLectin3D provides detailed structural insights into recognition.
- LectomeXplore facilitates the discovery of potential lectins in microbial genomes.
Conclusions:
- The UniLectin portal is a valuable resource for understanding host-microbe interactions at the molecular level.
- Databases aid in characterizing lectin specificity and identifying novel lectins.
- Co-evolution drives the specific binding of microbes to host mucins.
