Mode of toxic action of ricin, toxic protein from castor bean seeds.

Purification and Biochemical Characterisation of Ricin from Castor Seeds

Ricin is a highly toxic plant toxin of Ricinus comtnunis seeds, commonly known as castor seeds. The toxin was extracted and purified using affinity and size exclusion chromatography. The purity of ricin was evaluated by the sodium dodecylsulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Purified ricin gives a single band under non-reduced condition and two bands under reduced condition. The molecula...

Crystalline ricin D, a toxic anti-tumor lectin from seeds of Ricinus communis.

A toxic lectin, ricin D, present in the seeds of Ricinus communis has been purified and crystallized in a form suitable for high resolution crystallographic structure studies. This protein is different from a previously found form of ricin (also present in the same seeds), the only ricin for which a preliminary x-ray investigation has been reported so far. Ricin D crystallizes from an aqueous s...

Approaches for the Detection of Toxic Compounds in Castor and Physic Nut Seeds and Cakes

Purification of a toxic substance from defatted soy bean flour.

Investigations undertaken to elucidate the mechanism whereby concentrates of the soy bean trypsin inhibitor depress growth have indicated that an inhibition of intestinal proteolysis is not the only factor involved (l-3). In a previous paper (4), it was shown that a concentrate of the soy bean trypsin inhibitor, which had been treated so as to destroy its antitryptic activity, still retained th...

Lectinochemical studies on the binding properties of a toxic lectin (ricin) isolated from the seeds of Ricinus communis.

BACKGROUND Ricin (RCA2 or RCA60) is a highly toxic heterodimeric protein found in the seeds of the castor plant Ricinus communis. It is a potential biohazard. In the present study, the fine specificity of ricin was defined. METHODS The combining site of ricin was characterized by quantitative precipitin (QPA) and precipitin inhibition assays (QPIA). RESULTS Of 31 glycoproteins and pneumococ...