ABSTRACT
Ricin is a highly toxic plant protein produced by the seeds of the castor plant. It belongs to the ribosome inactivating proteins (RIP) family and causes cell death by inhibiting the protein synthesis activity of ribosome. Ricin takes a unique pathway called "retrograde trafficking pathway" to enter the cytosol, where it interacts with ribosome and then exerts its inhibitory activity. No effective antidote agents have been developed for the treatment of ricin poisoning. In this paper, the structure, cell trafficking process, toxicological mechanism and the research progress in ricin antitoxin agents are reviewed.
ABSTRACT
Ricin is a highly toxic plant protein produced by the seeds of the castor plant. It belongs to the ribosome inactivat-ing proteins(RIP)family and causes cell death by inhibiting the protein synthesis activity of ribosome. Ricin takes a unique pathway calledretrograde trafficking pathwayto enter the cytosol,where it interacts with ribosome and then exerts its inhibitory activity. No effective antidote agents have been developed for the treatment of ricin poisoning. In this paper,the structure,cell trafficking process, toxicological mechanism and the research progress in ricin antitoxin agents are reviewed.
ABSTRACT
A novel method for assaying the enzymatic activity of ribosome-inactivating proteins(RIPs) has been developed.The principle of the method is based on that RIP can remove some adenine bases from double-stranded supercoiled DNA molecules,subsequently,the deadenylated DNA was cleaved into nicked and linear form.After treatment with acidic aniline,the deadenylated DNA was degraded into many small fragments,and run out of the gel.The enzymatic activities of two RIPs(trichosanthin and cinnamomin) were tested using this method,the limit of sensitivity is about 50 ng(trichosanthin) and 5 ng(reduced cinnamomin) .It should be emphasized that the merit of this method is to avoid the preparation of ribosome.