Plant lectin-induced apoptosis in cancer cells: a mini-review

Cancer has become a leading research topic in recent years. Although there is no exact cure, scientists have been studying various means that can suppress cancer. One mechanism of eradicating cancer cells is by triggering apoptosis. Plant lectins have been shown to induce apoptosis in various types of cancer cells. Plant lectins use different mechanisms of apoptosis, but typically induce similar morphological changes such as DNA fragmentation and chromatin condensation. Increasing our understanding of the plant lectins apoptotic pathways is crucial in developing drugs that can inhibit the proliferation of cancer cells. This paper aims to provide a general perspective for understanding lectin's potential role as novel anti-cancer drugs.