• Toxicological Research
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.193-197
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• 1995

Antibody-toxin conjugates, termed immunotoxins, are currently being evaluated as potential new anticancer agents and one of the most extensively studied toxins for construction of immunotoxin is ricin which exists in the seeds of castor bean, Ricinus communis. Another toxic lectin from castor bean is RCA (Ricinus communis agglutinin). Both toxins are very homologous. We reported the puriffcation procedure and biological properties of ricin from the Korean castor bean in another place and here we report those of RCA. The purified RCA shows three bands on denatured SDS PAGE while ricin shows two bands. On cultured $K_{562}$ cells ricin and RCA both inhibit the multiplication of cells extensively. $30{\mu}g/ml$ of ricin shows 73% of inhibition rate at day 4 compared to 68% in same condition of RCA. The inhibition of multiplication of cells are directly proportional to the concentration of toxins and the incubation period. In every case ricin was more toxic than RCA. The $LD_{50}$ dose of ricin on ICR mice was 60 ng at day 3 but that of RCA was $10{\mu}g$.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.246-255
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• 2001

Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) of muscles extracted with distilled water, saline solution, SDS or Trition X-100 showed simular protein patterns between Hanwoo and Holstein meat, indicating that SDS-PAGE technique may not be useful for the identification between Hanwoo and Holstein meat. Lectine blot analysis of muscle extracted with distilled water demonstrated that Hanwoo and Holstein meat had similar affinities for concanavalin A (Con A), ricinus communis agglutinin (RCA-120), ulex europaeus agglutinin (UEA-1) or peanut agglutinin (PNA) lectins. However, approximately 32.1 kDa component of Hanwoo meat showed high affinity for dolichos biflorus agglutinin (DBA) lectin. On the contrary, high molecular weight components of Holstein meat had the specific affinity for wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) lectin. Hanwoo meat-specific components were observed by lectin staining of heat-denatured meat at 100$^{\circ}C$ for 30 sec. Also, the component of heat-denatured meat at 100$^{\circ}C$ for 30 sec, which was slightly smaller than Hanwoo meat-specific component, was concentrated specifically in Holstein meat.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.84-96
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• 1993

This study was to investigate the effects of maternal diabetes on the lung tissue of the fetal rat using lectin histochemistry and electron microscope technique. Maternal diabetes was induced by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (75 mg/kg the body weight) into pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats on the 7th day of gestation. Fetuses of streptozotocin induced diabetic rats exhibited delayed lung maturation and reduced air space. In lectin histochemistry, the binding of Maclura pomifera (MPA) to fetal lungs from diabetic mothers was reduced, but no significant changes in the bindings of Concanavalin A (Con A), Wheat germ agglutinin (WGA), Ricinus communis I (RCA I) and Griffonia simplicifolia (GSI-$B_4$) were noted. Because the MPA has affinity to terminal N-acetyl-D-galactosamine residues constantly linked O-glycosidically to serine or threonine, the present findings may indicates that maternal diabetes interfere with the processes of O-linked glycosylation in fetal rat lung.