Isolation and properties of beta-D-galactoside-specific lectin from chick embryo thigh muscle.

A beta-galactoside-specific lectin, capable of agglutinating trypsinized rabbit erythrocytes, was isolated from 13-day-old embryonic chick thigh muscle and purified 1000-fold by affinity chromatography on asialofetuin/Sepharose and Sephadex G-100. A quantitative hemagglutinin assay based on the disappearance of single erythrocytes in a Coulter electronic particle counter was devised to measure lectin activity at different steps of purification. The molecular weight of the lectin was determined by gel filtration to be approximately 31,000, whereas polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulfate gave a value of approximately 15,000, suggesting that the lectin is a dimer. The lectin is unstable below pH 5, and it requires the presence of dithiothreitol for the retention of maximal activity. The major portion of this lectin is membrane-bound; only 50% of the activity present in the muscle homogenate could be isolated in soluble form by extraction of muscle acetone powder with a buffer of high ionic strength. In view of the lack of a calcium requirement for its activity, the role of this lectin in myoblast fusion, a calcium-dependent phenomenon, is not clear.