Dependence of depurination of oligoribonucleotides by ricin A-chain on divalent cations and chelating agents.

Ricin A-chain is a cytotoxic RNA N-glycosidase that inactivates eukaryotic ribosomes by depurinating the adenosine at position 4324 in 28S rRNA. The enzyme retains its specificity when a synthetic oligoribonucleotide (a 35-mer) that mimics the structure at the site of action is the substrate. However, covalent modification by ricin A-chain of the oligoribonucleotide but not of ribosomes, depends on the simultaneous presence of a divalent cation and a chelating agent.