Induction of apoptosis in populations of mammalian cells in vitro under the influence of lectins

Abstract

A study of the cytogenetic action of lectins that differ in terms of origin and hydrocarbon specification is presented. In a culture of Chinese hamster cells it is shown that at high concentrations (20 μg/ml), all lectins are capable of inducing an increase in the level of apoptosis two days after treatment with a high degree of reliability. In the case of perch roe lectin, such an increase occurs both immediately after treatment as well as two days later. It is found that, unlike lentil and perch roe lectin, in a culture of human cells black elder lectin does not have any effect on the incidence of apoptotic cells. A trend towards stimulation of proliferation of human cells under the influence of perch roe lectin at low concentrations (0.2 μg/ml) is discovered.