From plant screening to therapeutics: isolation of an anticancer lectin from Madhuca neriifolia with antioxidant potentials.

The study discusses the screening of various plant tissues for the presence of lectins and describes the isolation, antioxidant and anticancer potentials of a lectin from the selected plant, Madhuca neriifolia (Moon) H.J. Lam. About 39% of the total plant tissues selected for the study exhibited lectin activity, with M. neriifolia leaf extract showing the highest haemagglutination potential. Lectin purification from the plant was done by ammonium sulphate fractionation and affinity chromatography, and further evaluated by MS/MS analysis. Antioxidant properties of the lectin were examined by DPPH (1,1diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) and ABTS (2, 2'-azinobis (3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid)) radical scavenging activities, Metal (Fe2+) chelating activity and reducing power assays. The lectin showed considerable free radical scavenging abilities and inhibited the proliferation of the human cancer cell lines- HCT-116 and A375. The study identified a new natural plant source of lectin with considerable antioxidant and anticancer potentials.