Cucurmosin

Cucurmosin is a type I ribosome inactivating protein (RIP) found in the sarcocarp (flesh) and seed of Cucurbita — notably Cucurbita moschata, that is toxic to cancer cells, if the dosage is high enough, by stopping their ribosomes. Cucurmosin is what Cucurbita use to defend against viral, fungal, and bacterial agents. It takes a lower dose of cucurmosin to kill cancer cells than healthy cells. It has been shown to induce apoptosis in pancreatic cancer and myeloid leukemia cells.

References

  1. ↑ Preedy, Victor R.; Watson, Ronald Ross; Patel, Vinwood B. (2011). Nuts and Seeds in Health and Disease Prevention. London: Academic Press. p. 936. ISBN 978-0-12-375688-6.
  2. ↑ Barbieri, L.; Polito, L.; Bolognesi, A.; Ciani, M.; Pelosi, E.; Farini, V.; Jha, A. K.; Sharma, N.; Vivanco, J. M.; Chambery, A.; Parente, A.; Stirpe, F. (May 2006). "Ribosome-inactivating proteins in edible plants and purification and characterization of a new ribosome-inactivating protein from Cucurbita moschata". Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - General Subjects. 1760 (5): 783–792. doi:10.1016/j.bbagen.2006.01.002. PMID 16564632.
  3. ↑ Hou, Xiaomin; Meehan, Edward J.; Xie, Jieming; Huang, Mingdong; Chen, Minghuang; Chen, Liqing (October 2008). "Atomic resolution structure of cucurmosin, a novel type 1 ribosome-inactivating protein from the sarcocarp of Cucurbita moschata". Journal of Structural Biology. 164 (1): 81–87. doi:10.1016/j.jsb.2008.06.011. PMID 18652900.
  4. ↑ Zhang, B.; Huang, H.; Xie, J.; Xu, C.; Chen, M.; Wang, C.; Yan, A.; Yin, Q. (March 2012). "Cucurmosin induces apoptosis of BxPC-3 human pancreatic cancer cells via inactivation of the EGFR signaling pathway". Oncology Reports. 27 (3): 891–897. doi:10.3892/or.2011.1573. PMID 22139427.