Cancer: Melanoma
Action: Autophagy
Concanavalin A (ConA) is isolated from Canavalia ensiformis [(L.) DC.].
Autophagy
Plant lectins, a group of highly diverse carbohydrate-binding proteins of non-immune origin, are ubiquitously distributed through a variety of plant species, and have recently drawn rising attention due to their remarkable ability to kill tumor cells using mechanisms implicated in autophagy. Plant lectins concanavalin A, Polygonatum cyrtonema lectin and mistletoe lectins can target autophagy by modulating BNIP-3, ROS-p38-p53, Ras-Raf and PI3KCI-Akt pathways, as well as Beclin-1, in many types of cancer cells (Liu et al., 2013).
Melanoma
Con A possesses a remarkable anti-proliferative effect on human melanoma A375 cells, and there is a link between the anti-proliferative activity of Con A and its sugar-binding activity. Subsequently, Con A can induce human melanoma A375 cell apoptosis in a caspase-dependent manner. It has been demonstrated that there may be a close correlation between the anti-proliferative activity of Con A and its sugar-binding activity. More importantly, Con A can induce human melanoma A375 cell death in a caspase-dependent manner as well as via a mitochondrial apoptotic pathway (Liu et al.,2009).
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