Lendaro E, Ippoliti R, Bellelli A, Brunori M, Evangelista V, Guidarini D, Benedetti P A
Dipartimento di Scienze Biochimiche, C.N.R., Università di Roma La Sapienza, Italy.
FEBS Lett. 1994 May 9;344(1):99-104. doi: 10.1016/0014-5793(94)00255-x.
The intracellular dynamics of fluorescent conjugates of the toxic lectin ricin was followed by video fluorescence microscopy on living CHO cells, demonstrating that the ricin heterodimer and its isolated B chain, after binding to the plasma membrane receptors, migrate to and accumulate in the Golgi apparatus following internalization. A ricin derivative labelled with fluorescein on the A chain and rhodamine on the B chain did not display significant splitting of the A-B heterodimer during translocation of the toxin to the Golgi; this novel finding provides support for the hypothesis that further processing of ricin takes place in this cellular compartment.
