Molecular characterization of limulin, a sialic acid binding lectin from the hemolymph of the horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus.

The sialic acid binding lectin, limulin, was isolated by gel filtration and ion-exchange chromatography from the hemolymph of Limulus polyphemus. When the purified protein was characterized by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of beta-mercaptoethanol, two major protein bands were observed. These two bands, subsequently found to contain carbohydrate as well, corresponded to molecular weights of 25 000 and 27 000. Amino acid sequence analyses were performed on both the intact protein and isolated cyanogen bromide fragments. The following primary structural features were noted in the amino-terminal region of limulin: (1) the absence of histidine and alanine from the NH2-terminal 50 residues; (2) the presence of five of the total eight prolines of the molecule between positions 13 and 30; and (3) a possible carbohydrate attachment site consisting of only the amino acids proline and serine between residues 13 and 19. The resultsof cyanogen bromide cleavage studies confirmed the presence of 2 methionine residues per subunit, at positions 25 and 58 respectively. No sequence heterogeneity was observed in this study. While it is quite possible that limulin plays some role in the defense mechanisms of the horseshoe crab, there is no obvious sequence homology between this invertebrate lectin and vertebrate immunoglobulins.