Abstract

Ribosome Inactivating Proteins, RIPs, depurinate an invariant adenine from the 28S rRNA of eukaryotic ribosomes; they have evolved to near enzymatic perfection for this task. The N-glycosidase fold is conserved in plant and bacterial enzymes. RIPs can form complexes with cell surface recognition proteins that dramatically increase the cytotoxicity of the molecule.

Keywords: ribosome inactivating proteins, 28s rrna, eukaryotic ribosomes