Table 1.

Plant lectins targeting apoptotic/autophagic signalling pathways in cancer

Name	Apoptosis/autophagy	Target	Cancer cell type	Specific mechanism	References
Concanavalin A	Apoptosis	Caspase, Akt, MMP‐9, ERK	Human melanoma A375 cell	Trigger mitochondria‐mediated apoptosis in A375 and HepG2 cells	25, 26, 27, 28, 29
		–	Hepatocellular liver carcinoma HepG2 cell
		COX‐2, Bax/Bcl‐2,	Glioblastoma U87 cell	Modulate IKK/NF‐κB‐dependent pathway in U87 cells
		–	Human ovarian cancer SKOV3 cells	Activate Foxo1a‐Bim signaling
	Autophagy	BNIP‐3,	Glioblastoma U87 cell	Induce autophagy via the interplay between JAK2/STAT3 and MT1‐MMP signaling pathway	28, 57, 58, 59, 60
		Atg3, Atg12, PI3K/AKT/mTOR, MEK/ERK	Cervical cancer HeLa cell	Activate autophagy by lowering PI3K/AKT/mTOR expression and induce the MEK/ERK pathway
Mistletoe lectin	Apoptosis	Caspase‐3, caspase‐8, TNF‐α, Bcl‐2,	Leukemia U937 cell	Induce apoptosis via the extrinsic apoptotic pathway in Jurkat leukemic T cells	17, 30, 31, 32
		MMP, MAPK, p38	Adenocarcinoma	Induce apoptosis through Apaf‐1‐dependent pathway
		–	Human hepatic carcinoma Hep3B cells	Release cyto. c and increase ROS
		–	Leukemia U937 cell	Activating SAPK/JNK and p38 pathways, or inhibiting ERK1/2 pathway
	Autophagy	mTORC1, PI3KCIII, Beclin‐1, Atg12	hepatocellular liver carcinoma SK‐Hep‐1 & Hep 3B cell	Reduce cell death by increasing expressions of phosphorylated mTORC1, PI3KCIII, Beclin‐1, Atg12 and active LC3 form	63
P. cyrtonema lectin	Apoptosis	Bax, Bcl‐XL, Bcl‐2, MMP	Melanoma A375 cell	Induce apoptosis cyto. c release and caspase activation	25, 33, 34, 35, 36
		Caspase‐3/‐8/‐9	Cervical cancer HeLa cell	Induce apoptosis via activation of caspase
		–	Breast cancer MCF‐7	–
		–	Murine fibrosarcoma L929 cell	induce apoptosis via a caspasedependent pathway
	Autophagy	P38, p53, Ras‐Raf, PI3KCI/Akt	Melanoma A375 cell	Induce autophagy via a ROS‐p38‐p53 pathway	61, 62
			Murine fibrosarcoma L929 cell	Induce autophagy by inhibiting Ras‐Raf signaling pathway or PI3KCI/Akt signaling pathway
S. flavescens lectin	Apoptosis	Caspase	Cervical cancer HeLa cell	Induce apoptosis via a death‐receptor pathway	37
Phaseolus. Multiflorus willd	Apoptosis	Caspase	Murine fibrosarcoma L929 cell	Induce caspase‐dependent apoptosis	38
Pinellia ternata agglutinin	Apoptosis	–	Hepatocarcinoma Bel‐7404 Cell	Induce apoptosis	39
Pea (Pisum sativum L.) lectin	Apoptosis	Bax, Bcl‐2, Bcl‐XL	Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) Cell	Result in cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase of EAC cells	40
Mulberry leaf lectin	Apoptosis	Caspase	Breast cancer MCF‐7 Cell	Induce apoptotic cell death via a caspase‐dependent manner	41
			Colon cancer HCT‐15 Cell
VAA‐I	Apoptosis	PI3K	Hepatocellular carcinoma SMMC7721 cell	Lead to apoptosis by inducing PI3K pathway	42
Canavalia brasiliensis	Apoptosis	–	Leukemia U937 cell	Inhibit tumor cell proliferation by inducing apoptosis	43
Momordica charantia lectin	Apoptosis	Caspase‐3/‐8/‐9, MAPK	Nasopharyngeal carcinoma NP‐69 cell	Increase cyto. c release, activate caspases‐3/‐8/‐9, enhance production of cleaved PARP, regulate MAPK phosphorylation and promote downstream NO production	44
		Caspase‐8/‐9	Human hepatocellular carcinoma Hep G2 cell	Induce apoptosis through caspase‐8 regulated extrinsic and caspase‐9 regulated intrinsic caspase cascades	45
AML	Apoptosis	Caspase	Chronic myeloid leukemia cell	Induce apoptosis in a caspase‐dependent manner	46
Ricin	Apoptosis	Caspase‐3/‐7/‐8	L540 human Hodgkin's lymphoma‐derived cell	Induce apoptosis by up‐regulating caspase‐8 and caspase‐3/‐7	47
Rice bran agglutinin	Apoptosis	Caspase	Promyelocytic leukemia U937cell	Inhibit cell proliferation via cytotoxic mechanisms involving caspase activation and apoptosis	48
Abrin	Apoptosis	Caspase‐3, Bcl‐2	Murine Dalton's Lymphoma Ascites cells	Induce apoptosis by increasing caspase‐3 expression and blocking Bcl‐2 expression	49
AMML	Apoptosis	–	Human cervical carcinoma HeLa cell line Leukemia	Induce apoptosis	50
			Human osteoblast‐like MG63 cell
			Human leukemia K562 cell