Lectin from Viscum album L. inhibits protein synthesis in a lysate of rabbit reticulocytes

Mistletoe has been used as a drug against different diseases in po­ pular medicine for a long time, but the systematic research into anti-neoplastic activity of mistletoe extracts started only recently. Biological and anti-tumor activity of many protein fractions from mistletoe ex­ tract has been thouroughly investigated by V e s t e r et al. (1968 a, b), who determined optimal conditions for the isolation of easily denatu­ red active components — basic proteins similar to histones. Lectin from Viscum album L. inhibits protein synthesis in a lysate of rabbit reticulocytes (Stirpe et al. 1980), while HelixorR, representing the whole mistletoe extract, reduces the growth of permanent human and mouse cell lines, to a much greater extent than the growth of cells with limited capacity for propagation ( U l r i c h and M e c h e l k e 1980). In medical treatment of unoperable colo-rectal tumors HelixorR can also be applied with success ( D e n c k and K a r r e r 1980).