Mistletoe offers health-promoting effects; however, it has toxicity, requiring careful application. Viscothionin is a polypeptide of mistletoe that while contributing to toxicity also demonstrates anti-cancer and anti-diabetic activities. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether gamma irradiation or heating treatment could selectively reduce viscothionin-mediated cytotoxicity. Gamma irradiation effectively inhibited viscothionin-induced cytotoxicity to RIN5mF cells, but heating treatment did not affect its cytotoxicity. Both heating and gamma irradiation further increased the insulinotropic activity of viscothionin, whereas the effect of gamma irradiation was dose-dependent and diminished above 20 kGy. Structural analysis showed that gamma irradiation significantly altered the ordered structure of viscothionin, unlike heating treatment, resulting in a change of its molecular properties, which could be linked to the observed changes in the cytotoxicity and insulinotropic activity of the polypeptide. These results suggest gamma irradiation as an alternative method for minimizing viscothionin toxicity without interfering with anti-diabetic effect.

槲寄生具有促进健康的作用；然而，它有毒性，需要小心使用。Viscothionin 是槲寄生的一种多肽，在产生毒性的同时，还具有抗癌和抗糖尿病活性。本研究的目的是评估伽马辐射或加热处理是否可以选择性地降低粘硫素介导的细胞毒性。伽马辐射有效地抑制了粘硫素诱导的对 RIN5mF 细胞的细胞毒性，但加热处理不影响其细胞毒性。加热和伽马辐射都进一步增加了粘硫素的促胰岛素活性，而伽马辐射的作用是剂量依赖性的，超过 20 kGy 时会减弱。结构分析表明，与加热处理不同，伽马辐射显着改变了粘硫素的有序结构，导致其分子特性的变化，这可能与观察到的多肽的细胞毒性和促胰岛素活性的变化有关。这些结果表明，伽马辐射是一种在不干扰抗糖尿病作用的情况下，将粘硫素毒性降至最低的替代方法。