title: Balsamin, a novel ribosome-inactivating protein from the seeds of Balsam apple Momordica balsamina.
abstract: Plant seeds, a rich source of proteins, are considered important for their application as functional ingredients in a food system. A novel ribosome-inactivating protein (RIP), balsamin was purified from the seeds of Balsam apple, Momordica balsamina. Balsamin was purified by ion exchange chromatography on CM Sepharose and gel filtration on superdex-75. It has a molecular weight of 28 kDa as shown by SDS-PAGE analysis. Balsamin inhibits protein synthesis in a rabbit reticulocyte lysate-based cell free translation assay with an IC(50) of 90.6 ng ml(-1). It has RNA N-glycosidase activity and releases a 400-base long fragment termed the Endo fragment from 28S rRNA in the same manner as does saporin-6 from Saponaria officinalis. The N-terminal sequence analysis of the first 12 amino acids of balsamin revealed that it shares 83% similarity with type I RIP α-MMC from Momordica charantia and 50% similarity with β-MMC (from Momordica charantia), bryodin I (from Bryonia dioica) and luffin a (from Luffa cylindrica). Balsamin was further characterized by mass spectrometry. CD spectroscopic studies indicate that secondary structure of balsamin contains helix (23.5%), β-strand (24.6%), turn (20%) and random coil (31.9%). Thus RIPs activity expressed in vegetables like Momordica sp. advocates its usage in diet.
authors: Fermentation and Protein Biotechnology Laboratory, Department of Botany, Punjabi University, Patiala 147 002, India.
authors: Inderdeep
authors: I
authors: Kaur
authors: Santosh K
authors: SK
authors: Yadav
authors: Gururao
authors: G
authors: Hariprasad
authors: R C
authors: RC
authors: Gupta
authors: Alagiri
authors: A
authors: Srinivasan
authors: Janendra K
authors: JK
authors: Batra
authors: Munish
authors: M
authors: Puri
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002474:Cell-Free System; D002850:Chromatography, Gel; D002852:Chromatography, Ion Exchange; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D029775:Momordica / Q000737:chemistry*; D010802:Phylogeny; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D059367:RNA Cleavage; D012339:RNA, Ribosomal, 28S / Q000737:chemistry; D011817:Rabbits; D012156:Reticulocytes / Q000737:chemistry; D054788:Ribosome Inactivating Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012639:Seeds / Q000737:chemistry*; D020539:Sequence Analysis, Protein; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins; D012339:RNA, Ribosomal, 28S; C576086:balsamin; D054788:Ribosome Inactivating Proteins