Isolation and characterization of viscumin, a toxic lectin from Viscum album L. (mistletoe)

A toxic protein, viscumin, was isolated from extracts of mistletoe by affinity chromatography on acid-treated Sepharose 4B. Viscumin was selectively bound to the column and could be eluted with lactose. It migrated in polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate corresponding to Mr = 60,000. In addition, two bands migrating corresponding to Mr = 29,000 and 32,000 were found. After treatment with 2-mercaptoethanol, only 2 bands (Mr = 29,000 and 34,000) were found. Apparently, viscumin consists of two chains which, in some of the molecules, are disulfide-linked. Protection experiments with antiserum against viscumin indicated that the major part of the cytotoxic activity in mistletoe extracts is due to viscumin. Gel filtration experiments on Sephacryl 200 indicated that, at low concentrations, viscumin occurs as a monomer and at higher concentrations as a dimer. Viscumin was found to inhibit protein synthesis in cell-free systems. When the two constituent peptide chains of viscumin were eluted from polyacrylamide gels and tested for ability to inhibit cell-free protein synthesis, this property was found to be associated with the fastest migrating chain, here denoted the A chain. The heavier chain was denoted the B chain. The A chain was found to inhibit protein synthesis by inactivating the ribosomes catalytically. Reconstitution experiments with isolated ribosomal subunits from untreated and A chain-treated ribosomes showed that the 60 S ribosomal subunit was selectively inactivated.