Development of an effective antidote to the toxic protein ricin

What is it about?

Ricin is a highly toxic protein, but an effective small molecular antidote has not been developed yet. We have shown for the first time that a small-molecular inhibitor capable of blocking simultaneously two critical pockets in the toxic protein. We used X-ray crystallography to determine the structural basis for the binding of the inhibitor to the pockets.

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Photo by CDC on Unsplash

Photo by CDC on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This is the first example of a small organic inhibitor that is capable of simultaneously plugging the two critical pockets in the toxic protein. We have revealed that the conformational change in a certain amino acid residue in the toxic protein is an important factor in achieving the interaction between inhibitors and the pockets of the protein.

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