Biochemical characterisation of lectin from wild chickpea (Cicer reticulatum L.) with potential inhibitory action against human cancer cells.

A wild chickpea lectin (WCL) from the seeds of Cicer reticulatum L. was chromato-purified using DEAE-Cellulose and SP-Sephadex ion exchange chromatography. WCL was thermostable upto 60°C with broad pH optima (pH 5-9) and various divalent metal ions did not influence its activity. WCL demonstrated DNA protection in a dose-dependent manner. The lectin exerted antifungal activity against diverse fungal pathogens. WCL augmented the mitogenic response of mouse spleen cells at 10 µg/ml concentration and showed an inhibition of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase at IC₅₀ of 200 µM. Against human cancer cell lines, lectin demonstrated anticancer potential. The cell viability assay in HepG2, Ishikawa, MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cell line demonstrated IC₅₀ values of 61.8, 54.4, 37.5 and 44.2 µg/ml respectively. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: WCL exhibited distinct medicinal properties vis-à-vis antiproliferative, mitogenic, antifungal/bacterial and HIV-1 reverse transcriptase inhibiting activities. The potential of WCL can be a subject of exploration from a pharmacological standpoint.