ABSTRACT
Animal lectins are carbohydrate-binding proteins expressed in a variety of tissues. They are excreted or membrane-bound proteins and mediate many biological processes including cell-to-cell adhesion, protein traf cking, and innate responses to pathogens (Drickamer and Taylor, 1993; Gabius, 1997). Lectins recognize carbohydrate-containing structures of the host itself and of the host’s pathogens. Their most common ligands are carbohydrates structures such as glycoconjugates of endogenous glycoproteins or oligosaccharide patterns on external membranes of pathogens (Buz et al., 2006).
