Abstract
AbstractToxic lectins, such as ricin, are the state-of-the-art tool in neurobiology for selectively destroying neuronal populations. Strikingly, lectins from plants and the toxins from some pathogenic bacteria that produce enteric and renal diseases share many functional and structural properties. These toxins might mimic the endocytic pathways of constitutive proteins of the organism to gain access to and destroy the metabolic machinery of the cell. In the nervous system, lectins can be applied both peripherally and centrally. Lectins are internalized in axon terminals by receptormediated endocytosis and transported towards the soma using anterograde and/or retrograde transport pathways. Ricin is the toxic lectin of Ricinus communis. It has been shown to interfere irreversibly with the synthesis of proteins by catalytically inactivating the 60S eukaryotic ribosome subunit in such an efficient manner that a single molecule of ricin is enough to kill a cell. Therefore, it is possible to discriminate betwee...
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