Institute for Cancer Research, The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Montebello, 0310, Oslo, Norway. olsnes@radium.uio.no
The plant toxin ricin consists of two disulfide-linked polypeptides with different functions. The A-chain enters the cytosol and inactivates the ribosomes enzymatically, whereas the B-chain has lectin properties and binds to carbohydrates at the cell surface. This binding is a requirement for translocation of the A-chain to the cytosol. The bound toxin is endocytosed and transported retrograde through the Golgi apparatus to the endoplasmic reticulum where it appears to be translocated to the cytosol by the sec61p complex.