Paclitaxel (PTX), sold under the brand name Taxol among others, is a chemotherapy medication used to treat ovarian cancer, esophageal cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer, Kaposi's sarcoma, cervical cancer, and pancreatic cancer. It is administered by intravenous injection. There is also an albumin-bound formulation.
Escherichia coli is a Gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped, coliform bacterium of the genus Escherichia that is commonly found in the lower intestine of warm-blooded organisms. Most E. coli strains are harmless, but some serotypes (EPEC, ETEC etc.) can cause serious food poisoning in their hosts, and are occasionally responsible for food contamination incidents that prompt product recalls. Most strains do not cause disease in humans and are part of the normal microbiota of the gut; such strains are harmless or even beneficial to humans (although these strains tend to be less studied than the pathogenic ones). For example, some strains of E. coli benefit their hosts by producing vitamin K2 or by preventing the colonization of the intestine by pathogenic bacteria. These mutually beneficial relationships between E. coli and humans are a type of mutualistic biological relationship — where both the humans and the E. coli are benefitting each other. E. coli is expelled into the environment within fecal matter. The bacterium grows massively in fresh faecal matter under aerobic conditions for three days, but its numbers decline slowly afterwards.
Terpenes are a class of natural products consisting of compounds with the formula (C5H8)n for n ≥ 2. Comprising more than 30,000 compounds, these unsaturated hydrocarbons are produced predominantly by plants, particularly conifers. Terpenes are further classified by the number of carbons: monoterpenes (C10), sesquiterpenes (C15), diterpenes (C20), as examples. The terpene alpha-pinene is a major component of the common solvent, turpentine.
Diterpenes are a class of terpenes composed of four isoprene units, often with the molecular formula C20H32. They are biosynthesized by plants, animals and fungi via the HMG-CoA reductase pathway, with geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate being a primary intermediate. Diterpenes form the basis for biologically important compounds such as retinol, retinal, and phytol. They are known to be antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory.
Taxanes are a class of diterpenes. They were originally identified from plants of the genus Taxus (yews), and feature a taxadiene core. Paclitaxel (Taxol) and docetaxel (Taxotere) are widely used as chemotherapy agents. Cabazitaxel was FDA approved to treat hormone-refractory prostate cancer.
Paclitaxel total synthesis in organic chemistry is a major ongoing research effort in the total synthesis of paclitaxel (Taxol). This diterpenoid is an important drug in the treatment of cancer but, also expensive because the compound is harvested from a scarce resource, namely the Pacific yew. Not only is the synthetic reproduction of the compound itself of great commercial and scientific importance, but it also opens the way to paclitaxel derivatives not found in nature but with greater potential.
Colitose is a mannose-derived 3,6-dideoxysugar produced by certain bacteria. It is a constituent of the lipopolysaccharide. It is the enantiomer of abequose.
CTP synthase is an enzyme involved in pyrimidine biosynthesis that interconverts UTP and CTP.
The acetolactate synthase (ALS) enzyme is a protein found in plants and micro-organisms. ALS catalyzes the first step in the synthesis of the branched-chain amino acids.
In enzymology, a GDP-L-fucose synthase (EC 1.1.1.271) is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction
Biotin synthase (BioB) is an enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of dethiobiotin (DTB) to biotin; this is the final step in the biotin biosynthetic pathway. Biotin, also known as vitamin B7, is a cofactor used in carboxylation, decarboxylation, and transcarboxylation reactions in many organisms including humans. Biotin synthase is an S-Adenosylmethionine (SAM) dependent enzyme that employs a radical mechanism to thiolate dethiobiotin, thus converting it to biotin.
In enzymology, an aminodeoxychorismate synthase is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction
The enzyme taxadiene synthase catalyzes the chemical reaction
In enzymology, a [acyl-carrier-protein] S-malonyltransferase is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction
In enzymology, a malate synthase (EC 2.3.3.9) is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction
Baccatin III is an isolate from the yew tree. Baccatin III is a precursor to the anti-cancer drug paclitaxel (Taxol).
In molecular biology, this protein domain belongs to the terpene synthase family (TPS). Its role is to synthesize terpenes, which are part of primary metabolism, such as sterols and carotene, and also part of the secondary metabolism. This entry will focus on the N terminal domain of the TPS protein.
3-Deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonic acid 7-phosphate (DAHP) is a 7-carbon ulonic acid. This compound is found in the shikimic acid biosynthesis pathway and is an intermediate in the production of aromatic amino acids.
4-Hydroxy-tetrahydrodipicolinate synthase (EC 4.3.3.7, dihydrodipicolinate synthase, dihydropicolinate synthetase, dihydrodipicolinic acid synthase, L-aspartate-4-semialdehyde hydro-lyase (adding pyruvate and cyclizing), dapA (gene)) is an enzyme with the systematic name L-aspartate-4-semialdehyde hydro-lyase (adding pyruvate and cyclizing; (4S)-4-hydroxy-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-(2S)-dipicolinate-forming). This enzyme catalyses the following chemical reaction
23S rRNA pseudouridine1911/1915/1917 synthase (EC 5.4.99.23, RluD, pseudouridine synthase RluD) is an enzyme with systematic name 23S rRNA-uridine1911/1915/1917 uracil mutase. This enzyme catalyses the following chemical reaction
