Ribosome-Inactivating Proteins and Leishmania: New Strategies for Future Research

Abstract

Few drugs are under investigation for the cure of leishmaniasis and none has so far proved to be totally satisfactory. Researchers are therefore still looking for new substances which could be employed as an-tileishmanial agents. We now draw attention to a group of proteins extracted from plants and known as ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs) which have recently given great interest for their wide potential uses in chemotherapy (1--5).