Thionin

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Thionin, also known as thionin acetate or Lauth's violet, is a strongly staining metachromatic dye that is widely used for biological staining. Stainsfile entry:[1] Thionin can also be used in place of Schiff reagent in quantitative Feulgen staining of DNA. It can also be used to mediate electron transfer in microbial fuel cells.[citation needed]

Thionins can also refer to a family of peptides found solely in higher plants. Typically, a thionin consists of 45-48 amino acid residues. 6-8 of these are cysteine forming 3-4 disulfide bonds. Some thionins have cytotoxic activity and they are therefore interesting in the development of new drugs against cancer with novel action mechanisms. [1] [2] As of yet, no thionin has ever been developed into an anti-cancer drug.

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ Florack DE,Stiekema WJ., Thionins: properties, possible biological roles and mechanisms of action., Plant Mol Biol. 1994 Oct;26(1):25-37.
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