Isolation and Characterization of Lectins from Ricinus communis

Lectins are proteins which are well distributed in nature. They are found in both plants and animals but plants are the richest source. On the surface of the cell lectins are attached with their sugar binding site. Lectins are found to be toxic, as it is poisonous it results in the death of cells both in vivo and in vitro. Leguminous plants serve as the main source of lectin, most of the lectins are derieved from seed, present in cytoplasm of the seed. Ricin is the toxic lectin which is derived from the castor bean plant Ricinus communis belong to the family of Euphorbiaceae. The toxicity of Ricin is bound with their two chain A and B chain. The A and B chains of ricin, more toxic to mammalian cells. Lectins exhibit a promising diagnostic and therapeutic approach for treating cancer. The study of this project encompasses the purification of ricin through affinity chromatography, characterization of ricin through haemagglutination assay and SDS-PAGE. The cytotoxicity on cancer cells is yet to be explored in order to showcase its anti-cancer property.