Snake venom lectins: a new group of T- and B-cell mitogenic anti-galactans.

A new group of vertebrate lectins has been discovered in snake venom preparations. These lectins are cell agglutinating, but not glycoconjugate precipitating. The specificity is directed towards receptors with terminal D-galactose, beta-linked. From the crude preparations strong T- and potent B-cell mitogens can be obtained by fractionation. The T-cell mitogenic lectin could be characterized as an anti-galactan, which reacts with group B streptococci of type II, and with the other types only after neuraminidase treatment. For comparison, other lectins have been tested with group B streptococci, too.