Abstract
Wheat germ agglutinin is a hevein class N-Acetylglucosamine–binding protein with specific toxicity and biomedical potential. It is extractable from wheat germ—a low-value byproduct of the wheat industry—using well–established extraction methods based on salt precipitation and affinity chromatography. Due to its N-Acetylglucosamine affinity, wheat germ agglutinin exhibits antifungal properties as well as cytotoxic properties. Its anticancer properties have been demonstrated for various cancer cells, and toxicity mechanisms are well described. Wheat germ agglutinin has been demonstrated as a viable solution for various biomedical and therapeutic applications, such as chemotherapy, targeted drug delivery, antibiotic-resistant bacteria monitoring and elimination. This is performed mostly in conjunction with nanoparticles, liposomes, and other carrier mechanisms via surface functionalization. Combined with abundant wheat byproduct sources, wheat germ agglutinin has the potential to improve the biomedical field considerably.
Highlights
Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the most essential agricultural staple foods used for human consumption and animal feed
This review is focused on wheat germ agglutinin, its structure and specificity, extraction and purification methods, biological activity, and possible applications
Wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) is one of the first purified lectins extracted at the very
Summary
Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the most essential agricultural staple foods used for human consumption and animal feed. Increasing trends of consumption-based economy restructuring to more ecologically-minded circular economy models encourage the scientific development of new technologies for byproduct valorization to create products with high nutritional value. One of the wheat processing byproducts which takes 2–3% of whole wheat grain [3] is wheat germ. They are a source of oils [4], tocopherols [5], various polyphenols [6], and specific proteins, such as agglutinins (lectins) [7]. Considering the high quantities of wheat germ available as low-value byproducts throughout the world, any valorization attempts by extracting specific proteins may lead to high impact worldwide.
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