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In silico investigation of the mechanism of ricin-catalysed depurination reaction and design of novel ricin inhibitors
Ricin is a dimeric enzyme found in the castor bean plant. It is extremely toxic with a fatal dose for humans ranging from 0.1-1.0 ug/kg. This has lead to its use as a biological weapon. Cell death is caused when ricin ceases the protein synthesis by removing a specific adenine (A-4324) of the GAGA t...
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Department of Chemistry
2015
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| _version_ | 1867613330726715393 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Jayakody, Ranga S |
| author2 | Naidoo, Kevin J |
| author_browse | Jayakody, Ranga S Naidoo, Kevin J |
| author_facet | Naidoo, Kevin J Jayakody, Ranga S |
| author_sort | Jayakody, Ranga S |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Ricin is a dimeric enzyme found in the castor bean plant. It is extremely toxic with a fatal dose for humans ranging from 0.1-1.0 ug/kg. This has lead to its use as a biological weapon. Cell death is caused when ricin ceases the protein synthesis by removing a specific adenine (A-4324) of the GAGA tetra loop of 28S ribosomal RNA. Despite this destructive feature, ricin has been touted as a potential therapeutic agent where applications such as immunotoxins to treat cancer, AIDS and other diseases are actively being pursued. However, the prime challenge in such applications is the non specific cytotoxicity of ricin, which cannot currently be treated due to the absence of an effective antidote. The primary objective of this thesis is to describe the catalytic mechanism of ricin using computational reaction dynamics. For an accurate simulation of the ricin-catalysed reaction, a reasonable model of the target natural substrate is required. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/12021 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:34:25.395Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publishDateRange | 2015 |
| publishDateSort | 2015 |
| publisher | Department of Chemistry |
| publisherStr | Department of Chemistry |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/12021 In silico investigation of the mechanism of ricin-catalysed depurination reaction and design of novel ricin inhibitors Jayakody, Ranga S Naidoo, Kevin J Chemistry Ricin is a dimeric enzyme found in the castor bean plant. It is extremely toxic with a fatal dose for humans ranging from 0.1-1.0 ug/kg. This has lead to its use as a biological weapon. Cell death is caused when ricin ceases the protein synthesis by removing a specific adenine (A-4324) of the GAGA tetra loop of 28S ribosomal RNA. Despite this destructive feature, ricin has been touted as a potential therapeutic agent where applications such as immunotoxins to treat cancer, AIDS and other diseases are actively being pursued. However, the prime challenge in such applications is the non specific cytotoxicity of ricin, which cannot currently be treated due to the absence of an effective antidote. The primary objective of this thesis is to describe the catalytic mechanism of ricin using computational reaction dynamics. For an accurate simulation of the ricin-catalysed reaction, a reasonable model of the target natural substrate is required. 2015-01-10T13:42:13Z 2015-01-10T13:42:13Z 2012 Doctoral Thesis Doctoral PhD http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12021 eng application/pdf Department of Chemistry Faculty of Science University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Chemistry Jayakody, Ranga S In silico investigation of the mechanism of ricin-catalysed depurination reaction and design of novel ricin inhibitors |
| thesis_degree_str | Doctoral |
| title | In silico investigation of the mechanism of ricin-catalysed depurination reaction and design of novel ricin inhibitors |
| title_full | In silico investigation of the mechanism of ricin-catalysed depurination reaction and design of novel ricin inhibitors |
| title_fullStr | In silico investigation of the mechanism of ricin-catalysed depurination reaction and design of novel ricin inhibitors |
| title_full_unstemmed | In silico investigation of the mechanism of ricin-catalysed depurination reaction and design of novel ricin inhibitors |
| title_short | In silico investigation of the mechanism of ricin-catalysed depurination reaction and design of novel ricin inhibitors |
| title_sort | in silico investigation of the mechanism of ricin catalysed depurination reaction and design of novel ricin inhibitors |
| topic | Chemistry |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12021 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jayakodyrangas insilicoinvestigationofthemechanismofricincatalyseddepurinationreactionanddesignofnovelricininhibitors |