Disease relevance of Viscum

• "Viscum album" extract, iscador, was found to reduce the leukocytopenia produced by radiation and cyclophosphamide treatment in animals [1].
• Weight loss due to radiation was considerably reduced by "Viscum album" extract whereas weight loss due to cyclophosphamide was not altered [1].
• The depression of cell-mediated immunity (CMI) was determined in patients with ovarian and breast carcinomas by lymphokine production under Con-A-stimulation (migration inhibitory factor), T-lymphocyte-transformation test under PHA-stimulation and with a skin reactivity test with a viscum album extract (Plenosol, Dr. Madaus, Cologne, FRG) [2].

High impact information on Viscum

• Selective killing of CD8+ cells with a 'memory' phenotype (CD62Llo) by the N-acetyl-D-galactosamine-specific lectin from Viscum album L [3].
• Himalayan mistletoe RIP (HmRIP) was purified from Viscum album leaves and crystallized with lactose [4].
• Crystallization of the ribosome inactivating protein ML1 from Viscum album (mistletoe) complexed with beta-D-galactose [5].
• NMR solution structure of viscotoxin C1 from Viscum album species Coloratum ohwi: toward a structure-function analysis of viscotoxins [6].
• The high-resolution three-dimensional structure of the plant toxin viscotoxin A3, from Viscum album L., has been determined in solution by (1)H NMR spectroscopy at pH 3.6 and 12 degrees C (the structure has been deposited in the Protein Data Bank under the id. code 1ED0) [7].

Biological context of Viscum

• Anti-inflammatory effect of Viscum album agglutinin-I (VAA-I): induction of apoptosis in activated neutrophils and inhibition of lipopolysaccharide-induced neutrophilic inflammation in vivo [8].
• Lectins and its A- and B-chains from Korean mistletoe (Viscum album var. coloratum) were isolated by affinity chromatography on the Sepharose 4B modified by lactose-BSA conjugate synthesized by reductive amination of ligand (lactose) to epsilon-amino groups of lysine residues of spacer (BSA) after reduction by NaCNBH3 [9].

Anatomical context of Viscum

• A ribosome inactivating protein (ML1) from the mistletoe plant (Viscum album) has been crystallized [5].
• Modulation of interleukin-15-induced human neutrophil responses by the plant lectrin Viscum album agglutinin-I [10].
• Differential binding of toxic lectins from Viscum album L., ML I and ML III, to human lymphocytes [11].
• The role of amino, sulfhydryl, disulfide, carboxyl, phenolic, imidazole and indole groups on the agglutination of human erythrocytes by the lectin from Viscum album has been determined using specific chemical modification techniques [12].

Associations of Viscum with chemical compounds

• The existence of new thionin variants in Viscum album has been deduced from cDNA sequences [13].
• The main polysaccharide of the green parts of Viscum is a highly esterified galacturonan whereas in Viscum 'berries' a complex arabinogalactan is predominant [14].
• It contains one milliliter of viscum fraxini in dilution stage-2 (15 mg extract of 20 mg mistletoe herb from ash tree, diluted in di-natrium-mono-hydrogen phosphate, ascorbic acid and water) which is equivalent to 10 000 ng/ml injection ampoules [15].
• The crystal structure of the ribosome-inactivating protein (RIP) mistletoe lectin I (ML-I) from Viscum album in complex with adenine has been refined to 1.9 A resolution [16].
• Galactose-specific lectin from Viscum album (VAA) was shown to induce the aggregation of rat thymocytes, to increase the intracellular Ca(2+)-availability, and to enhance the menadione-dependent release of H2O2 from cells in a carbohydrate- and dose-dependent manner [17].

Gene context of Viscum

• Serum levels of IL-12 and the production of IFN-gamma, IL-2 and IL-4 by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) in cancer patients treated with Viscum album extract [18].
• However, two galactoside-specific lectins, the laminin-binding beta-galactoside-binding 14 kDa lectin, isolated from bovine heart (14K-BHL), and the alpha/beta-galactoside-binding lectin, isolated from mistletoe (Viscum album L.) leaves (VAA), do not inhibit the EGFR tyrosine kinase activity [19].
• OBJECTIVES: The aim of this investigation was to determine the effects of Viscum album (VA) extract therapy on interleukin (IL)-12, IL-16, IL-6, soluble interleukin-6 receptor (sIL-6R), and soluble gp130 (sgp130) in patients with cancer [20].
• Effects of Viscum album extract therapy in patients with cancer: relation with interleukin-6, soluble interleukin-6 receptor, and soluble gp130 [20].
• An interaction between the arabinogalactan and the galactose-specific lectin (ML I) in Viscum could be demonstrated [14].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of Viscum

• Two glycopeptide fractions prepared from mistletoe (Viscum album) lectin I by Pronase digestion were fractioned by affinity chromatography on a concanavalin A-Sepharose column [21].
• A triterpene was isolated as a cytotoxic principle from the dichloromethane extract of Korean mistletoe (KM; Viscum album coloratum) by repeated silica gel chromatography and recrystallization [22].

References