A new chitooligosaccharide specific lectin from snake gourd (Trichosanthes anguina) phloem exudate. Purification, physico-chemical characterization and thermodynamics of saccharide binding

► A new chitooligosaccharide-specific lectin has been purified from the phloem exudate of snake gourd. ► The snake gourd phloem lectin (SGPL) is a disulfide-linked heterodimer, with subunits of Mr 48 and 53 kDa. ► SGPL is a predominantly β-sheet protein with very little α-helix. ► ITC studies show that SGPL dimer binds two ligand molecules [(GlcNAc)3-6] with association constants of ca. 105 M−1. ► SGPL-chitooligosaccharide interaction is governed by enthalpic forces with negative entropic contribution and enthalpy-entropy compensation is observed.