Research progress in enzyme activity and pharmacological effects of ribosome-inactivity protein in bitter melon

Abstract

Ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs) are a class of toxin proteins capable of acting on 28S rRNA of eukaryotic cells and inhibiting protein biosynthesis. Multiple properties have been reported for RIPs, including RNA N-glycosidase activity, polynucleotide: adenosine glycosidase activity, DNase-like activity and RNA hydrolase activity among others. RIPs isolated from bitter melon have shown strong biological activities of anti-virus, anti-bacteria, anti-fungi, apoptosis of tumor cells and early abortion induction. Ribosome inactivation and nuclease activity were firstly introduced in this paper, followed by a detailed discussion of RIP biological activity, and then the immunogenicity and immunotoxicity of RIPs. In this review, we aim to summarize pharmacological properties of RIPs purified from Mormordica charantia, the construction of effective immunotoxins for clinic usage as well as tumor therapy in the future.

Keywords:

• Momordica charantia L.
• ribosome-inactivating proteins
• N-glycosidase activity
• antiviral
• cell apoptosis

Declaration of interest

We declare that there are no competing interests in relation to papers accepted for publication. There are also no actual or potential conflicts of interest including any financial, personal or other relationships with other people or organizations.

This work was supported by a grant from the Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province of China (2006ABA186) and The Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province of Youth Project (Q200727004).