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. 2016 Sep;71(3):265-71.
doi: 10.1007/s11130-016-0555-4.

Functional Analysis of a Type-I Ribosome Inactivating Protein Balsamin from Momordica balsamina with Anti-Microbial and DNase Activity

Parminder Kaur Ajji  1   2 , Ken Walder  2 , Munish Puri  3
Affiliations

Functional Analysis of a Type-I Ribosome Inactivating Protein Balsamin from Momordica balsamina with Anti-Microbial and DNase Activity

Parminder Kaur Ajji et al. Plant Foods Hum Nutr. 2016 Sep.

Abstract

Ribosome inactivating proteins (RIPs) have received considerable attention in biomedical research because of their unique activities towards tumor and virus-infected cells. We extracted balsamin, a type-I RIP, from Momordica balsamina. In the present study, a detailed investigation on DNase activity, antioxidant capacity and antibacterial activity was conducted using purified balsamin. DNase-like activity of balsamin towards plasmid DNA was pH, incubation time and temperature dependent. Moreover, the presence of Mg(2+) (10-50 mM) influenced the DNA cleavage activity. Balsamin also demonstrated reducing power and a capacity to scavenge free radicals in a dose dependent manner. Furthermore, the protein exhibited antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella enterica, Staphylococcus epidermidis and Escherichia coli, which suggests potential utility of balsamin as a nutraceutical.

Keywords: Antibacterial; Antioxidant; Bioactive; Nutraceutical; Purification; Therapeutic.

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