Mannan-binding lectin the body. It is produced in the liver as a response to infection, and is part of many other factors termed acute phase proteins. Expression and function in other organs were also suggested. The three structural polymorphisms of exon 1 have been reported to cause susceptibility to various common infections, including meningococcal disease. However, evidence has been presented that suggests no harmful effect of these variants with regard to mengingococcal disease. Mannan-binding lectin Mannose-binding lectin (MBL), also called mannose-binding protein or mannan-binding protein (MBP), is a lectin that is instrumental in innate immunity via the lectin pathway. MBL has an
Lectin their particular high specificity for foreign glycoconjugates (e.g. those of fungi, invertebrates, and animals) and used in biomedicine for blood cell testing and in biochemistry for fractionation. Although they were first discovered more than 100 years ago in plants, now lectins are known to be present throughout nature. It is generally believed that the earliest description of a lectin was given by Peter Hermann Stillmark in his doctoral thesis presented in 1888 to the University of Dorpat. Stillmark isolated ricin, an extremely toxic hemagglutinin, from seeds of the castor plant ("Ricinus communis"). The first lectin to be purified on a