Colchicine semisynthetics: chemotherapeutics for cancer?

Nitrogen-containing bioactive alkaloids of plant origin play a significant role in human health and medicine. Several semisynthetic antimitotic alkaloids are successful in anticancer drug development. Gloriosa superba biosynthesizes substantial quantities of colchicine, a bioactive molecule for gout...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCurrent medicinal chemistry Vol. 20; no. 7; p. 892
Main Author Sivakumar, G
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United Arab Emirates 01.03.2013
Subjects
Antimitotic Agents - chemistry
Antimitotic Agents - metabolism
Antimitotic Agents - therapeutic use
Colchicine - biosynthesis
Colchicine - chemistry
Colchicine - therapeutic use
Drug Delivery Systems
Humans
Liliaceae - chemistry
Liliaceae - metabolism
Nanomedicine
Neoplasms - drug therapy
Tubulin Modulators - chemistry
Tubulin Modulators - metabolism
Tubulin Modulators - therapeutic use
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Summary:Nitrogen-containing bioactive alkaloids of plant origin play a significant role in human health and medicine. Several semisynthetic antimitotic alkaloids are successful in anticancer drug development. Gloriosa superba biosynthesizes substantial quantities of colchicine, a bioactive molecule for gout treatment. Colchicine also has antimitotic activity, preventing growth of cancer cells by interacting with microtubules, which could lead to the design of better cancer therapeutics. Further, several colchicine semisynthetics are less toxic than colchicine. Research is being conducted on effective, less toxic colchicine semisynthetic formulations with potential drug delivery strategies directly targeting multiple solid cancers. This article reviews the dynamic state of anticancer drug development from colchicine semisynthetics and natural colchicine production and briefly discusses colchicine biosynthesis.
ISSN:1875-533X
DOI:10.2174/092986713805219073