The Urtica dioica Agglutinin Is a Complex Mixture of Isolectins

Rhizomes of stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) contain a complex mixture of isolectins. Ion exchange chromatography with a high resolution fast protein liquid chromatography system revealed six isoforms which exhibit identical agglutination properties and carbohydrate-binding specificity and in addition have the same molecular structure and virtually identical biochemical properties. However, since the U. dioica agglutinin isolectins differ definitely with respect to their amino acid composition, it is likely that at least some of them are different polypeptides coded for by different genes.