Table 1.
Antineoplastic activity of plant lectins.
| Vegetal Source | Lectin | In Vitro Activity | In Vivo Activity | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abrus precatorius | AGG | Inhibition of protein synthesis, apoptosis induction. | Inhibition of tumor growth and angiogenesis, apoptosis induction. | [50,51,52,53] |
| Allium chinense | ACL | Antiproliferative effect, apoptosis induction. | Not reported. | [54] |
| Arachis hypogaea | PNA | Antiproliferative effect, apoptosis, and autophagy induction by oxidative stress. | Inhibition of tumor growth, apoptosis and autophagy induction. | [46] |
| Astragalus membranaceus | AML | Antiproliferative effect, apoptosis induction by caspases. | Not reported. | [55,56] |
| Canavalia ensiformis | Con A | Antiproliferative effect, autophagy, and apoptosis induction via caspase–mitochondrial pathway. | Inhibition of tumor growth, inhibition of tumor nodule formation. | [57,58,59,60,61,62] |
| Glycine max | SBL | Antiproliferative effect, apoptosis, and autophagy induction by oxidative stress and DNA damage. | Inhibition of tumor growth, apoptosis, and autophagy induction. | [63] |
| Momordica charantia | MCL | Differential antiproliferative effect, apoptosis induction by caspases. | Inhibition of tumor growth, apoptosis induction. | [64,65] |
| Morus alba | MLL | Apoptosis induction. | Not reported. | [66] |
| Phaseolus acutifolius | TBL | Differential antiproliferative effect, apoptosis induction. | Not reported. | [39,67] |
| Phaseolus vulgaris | PHA | Antiproliferative effect, apoptosis induction by death receptors. | Not reported. | [41,68,69] |
| Pinellia ternate | PTL | Antiproliferative effect, apoptosis induction. | Inhibition of tumor growth. | [70,71] |
| Polygonatum cyrtonema | PCL | Differential antiproliferative effect, autophagy, and apoptosis induction by caspases. | Not reported. | [72,73,74] |
| Polygonatum odoratum | POL | Differential antiproliferative effect, autophagy induction by oxidative stress, and apoptosis induction via caspase–mitochondrial pathway and death receptors. | Not reported. | [42,75,76] |
| Sophora flavescens | SFL | Antiproliferative effect, apoptosis induction by caspases. | Inhibition of tumor growth. | [62,77] |
| Triticum vulgaris | WGA | Differential antiproliferative effect, autophagy induction. | Not reported. | [78,79] |
| Urtica dioica | UDA | Antiproliferative effect, apoptosis induction. | Not reported. | [80] |
| Viscum album | ML | Antiproliferative effect, apoptosis induction. | Inhibition of tumor growth and metastasis, prolonged survival rate. | [81,82,83,84,85,86] |
AGG, Abrus agglutinin; ACL, Allium chinense lectin; PNA, Peanut agglutinin; AML, Astragalus membranaceus lectin; Con A, Concanavalin A lectin; SBL, Soybean lectin; MCL, Momordica charantia lectin; MLL, Mulberry leaf lectin; TBL, Tepary bean lectin; PHA, Phaseolus vulgaris agglutinin; PTL, Pinellia ternata lectin, PCL Polygonatum cyrtonema lectin; POL, Polygonatum odoratum lectin, SFL, Sophora flavescens lectin; WGA, Wheat germ agglutinin; UDA, Urtica dioica agglutinin; and ML, Mistletoe lectin.