A method of evaluating disease activity of rheumatoid arthritis with good sensitivity by a simple method, and a kit for use in the method. It provides a Jacalin-binding O-linked oligosaccharide epitope as a negative marker for diagnosing rheumatoid arthritis, and enables more accurate assessment of disease condition by more objectively determining disease activity of rheumatoid arthritis using the amount of variation of a value obtained by multiplying the amount of MMP-3 in the blood or the amount of bound MMP-3 and ABA, ACA, or ACG in the blood by the reciprocal of the amount of bound MMP-3 and Jacalin in the blood. Through the discovery that an LEL or STL-reactive sugar chain on MMP-3 in the blood is a sugar chain marker for diagnosing polymyalgia rheumatica and relapsing polychondritis, the present invention also provides a method for accurate diagnosis of polymyalgia rheumatica and relapsing polychondritis.

The present disclosure relates to a novel protein that specifically binds to a coronavirus, and a composition for neutralizing a coronavirus. A novel protein provided in the present disclosure is a novel protein in which virus binding ability is maintained but toxicity is eliminated on the basis of virus binding properties of bean-derived protein lectins, and thus can be used as a material for preventing the infection of a coronavirus or alleviating infectious diseases.

[Problem] The purpose of the present invention is to stably supply high-quality and highly uniform Wisteria floribunda agglutinin (WFA) that recognizes biologically important sugar-chain markers, to elucidate the sugar-chain recognition activity in detail, and to furthermore increase the specificity of the sugar-chain recognition activity. [Solution] The present invention involves the development of a technique for cloning genes for coding Wisteria floribunda agglutinin (WFA) and producing recombinant WFA having the same sugar-chain recognition activity as natural WFA from transformed bacteria. Natural WFA is reduced to thereby manufacture a reduced WFA monomer for specifically recognizing terminal GalNAc residue. A recombinant monomer WFA for recognizing LDN (GalNAcβ1, 4GlcNAc) sugar chain, which is important as a diagnostic marker among sugar chains having a terminal GalNAc residue, is manufactured by introducing cysteine mutation to recombinant WFA or by C-terminal-side amino acid deletion.

[Problem] The purpose of the present invention is to stably supply high-quality and highly uniform Wisteria floribunda agglutinin (WFA) that recognizes biologically important sugar-chain markers, to elucidate the sugar-chain recognition activity in detail, and to furthermore increase the specificity of the sugar-chain recognition activity. [Solution] The present invention involves the development of a technique for cloning genes for coding Wisteria floribunda agglutinin (WFA) and producing recombinant WFA having the same sugar-chain recognition activity as natural WFA from transformed bacteria. Natural WFA is reduced to thereby manufacture a reduced WFA monomer for specifically recognizing terminal GalNAc residue. A recombinant monomer WFA for recognizing LDN (GalNAcβ1, 4GlcNAc) sugar chain, which is important as a diagnostic marker among sugar chains having a terminal GalNAc residue, is manufactured by introducing cysteine mutation to recombinant WFA or by C-terminal-side amino acid deletion.

Disclosed herein is the nucleotide sequence of the Chromobacterium subtsugae genome. Also provided are the nucleotide sequences of open reading frames in the C subtsugae genome (i.e., C. subtsugae genes). In addition, the amino acid sequences of proteins encoded by the C. subtsugae genome are provided. Nucleic acids, vectors and polypeptides comprising the aforementioned sequences are also provided. Homologues, functional fragments and conservative variants of the aforementioned sequences are also provided. Compositions having pesticidal, bioremedial and plant growth-promoting activities comprising C. subtsugae genes and proteins, and methods for the use of these compositions, are also provided.

Disclosed herein is the nucleotide sequence of the Chromobacterium subtsugae genome. Also provided are the nucleotide sequences of open reading frames in the C subtsugae genome (i.e., C. subtsugae genes). In addition, the amino acid sequences of proteins encoded by the C. subtsugae genome are provided. Nucleic acids, vectors and polypeptides comprising the aforementioned sequences are also provided. Homologues, functional fragments and conservative variants of the aforementioned sequences are also provided. Compositions having pesticidal, bioremedial and plant growth-promoting activities comprising C. subtsugae genes and proteins, and methods for the use of these compositions, are also provided.

Disclosed herein is the nucleotide sequence of the Chromobacterium subtsugae genome. Also provided are the nucleotide sequences of open reading frames in the C. subtsugae genome (i.e., C. subtsugae genes). In addition, the amino acid sequences of proteins encoded by the C. subtsugae genome are provided. Nucleic acids, vectors and polypeptides comprising the aforementioned sequences are also provided. Homologues, functional fragments and conservative variants of the aforementioned sequences are also provided. Compositions having pesticidal, bioremedial and plant growth-promoting activities comprising C. subtsugae genes and proteins, and methods for the use of these compositions, are also provided.

Provided herein are chemical compounds, methods for their discovery, and their therapeutic and research use. Further provided herein are antiviral and antimicrobial lectin compounds and methods of their use.

Provided herein are chemical compounds, methods for their discovery, and their therapeutic and research use. Further provided herein are antiviral and antimicrobial lectin compounds and methods of their use.

In one aspect, the disclosure provides cross-linked materials that include multivalent lectins with at least two binding sites for glucose, wherein the lectins include at least one covalently linked affinity ligand which is capable of competing with glucose for binding with at least one of said binding sites; and conjugates that include two or more separate affinity ligands bound to a conjugate framework, wherein the two or more affinity ligands compete with glucose for binding with the lectins at said binding sites and wherein conjugates are cross-linked within the material as a result of non-covalent interactions between lectins and affinity ligands on different conjugates. These materials are designed to release amounts of conjugate in response to desired concentrations of glucose. Depending on the end application, in various embodiments, the conjugates may also include a drug and/or a detectable label.