Actions of lectins from the mushroom Tricholoma mongolicum on macrophages, splenocytes and life-span in sarcoma-bearing mice.

Two lectins isolated from the mushroom Tricholoma mongolicum stimulated the production of nitrite ions by macrophages in normal and tumor-bearing mice. Both lectins exhibited negligible mitogenic activity toward T-cells or splenocytes from normal mice in vitro when compared with Con A. Similarly, T-cells from sarcoma-bearing mice treated with the lectins did not exhibit a mitogenic response different from that of the control. However, T-cells from normal lectin-treated mice demonstrated a reduced mitogenic response when compared with the control. In mice the growth of sarcoma 180 cells in the peritoneal cavity was inhibited and the life-span was prolonged by the two lectins.