Detection of Cytotoxic Activity of Lectin on Human Colon Adenocarcinoma (Sw480) and Epithelial Cervical Carcinoma (C33-A)

Lectins comprise a heterogeneous class of proteins that recognize thecarbohydrate moieties of glycoconjugates with high specificity. Numerous studies haveOPEN ACCESSMolecules 2011, 162108shown that lectins are capable of recognizing specific carbohydrate moieties displayed bymalignant cells or tissues. The present work was performed to investigate the effects oftepary bean (Phaseolus acutifolius) lectins on proliferation, colony formation, andalteration of DNA synthesis of human malignant cells. Tepary bean lectin showed dosedependent effects on the inhibition of viability as well as on colony formation in twohuman malignant cells lines (C33-A, Sw480); By contrast, tepary bean lectin only showedsignificant effects on DNA synthesis on Sw480 cells. Our results provide evidence of theanti- proliferative and cytotoxic effects of the tepary bean lectins on C33-A and Sw480cells lines.