POTENTIALS OF INVESTIGATIONS ON MISTLETOE RIBOSOME INACTIVATING PROTEINS

Ribosome Inactivating Proteins (RIP) catalytically inhibit protein synthesis by eukaryotic and prokaryotic ribosomes and occur in plants and bacteria as defense molecules specifically induced during varieties of stresses. RIPs are structurally characterized and classified into Class 1 and 2 by both consisting of a catalytic domain(s) concerned with depurination of specific rRNA while class 2 additionally having a lectin subunit affinitive to specific sugar molecule(s) that binds cell surfaces. RIPs from many plants and bacterial sources have been studied for their anti-pathogenic and/or anti-disease characteristics including anti-viral and more prominently their anti-cancer attributes. One plant source is the mistletoes. Mistletoes are hemiparasitic plants found globally including India and infect almost all trees. This minireview discusses the prospective leads and potential applications from investigations on ribosome inactivating proteins from mistletoes as well as outlines various futuristic lines of investigations yet untouched.