Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

Intrabodies Reveal Critical Steps Involved In Ricin's Interactions With The Ribosome, Timothy Francis Czajka

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Ricin is a highly lethal protein toxin derived from the seeds of the castor plant, Ricinus communis. It is a Type II ribosome inactivating protein (RIP), meaning it is a heterodimer with one subunit, ricin toxin B (RTB), that mediates cell surface attachment and intracellular trafficking and a second subunit, ricin toxin A (RTA), that irreversibly shuts down protein synthesis in the cytosol. During trafficking, RTA and RTB necessarily separate in the endoplasmic reticulum, wherein RTA unfolds and translocates into the cytosol where it refolds into an enzymatically active conformation. RTA is remarkably fast acting and efficient, with few molecules …