Vinca alkaloids are a set of anti-mitotic and anti-microtubule alkaloid agents originally derived from the periwinkle plant Catharanthus roseus (basionym Vinca rosea) and other vinca plants. They block beta-tubulin polymerization in a dividing cell.
Vinca alkaloids are a set of anti-mitotic and anti-microtubule alkaloid agents originally derived from the periwinkle plant Catharanthus roseus (basionym Vinca rosea) and other vinca plants. They block beta-tubulin polymerization in a dividing cell.
The Madagascan periwinkle Catharanthus roseus L. is the source for a number of important natural products, [1] including catharanthine and vindoline [2] and the vinca alkaloids it produces from them: leurosine and the chemotherapy agents vinblastine [3] and vincristine, [4] all of which can be obtained from the plant. [5] [6] [7] [8] The newer semi-synthetic chemotherapeutic agent vinorelbine is used in the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer [7] [9] and is not known to occur naturally. However, it can be prepared either from vindoline and catharanthine [7] [10] or from leurosine, [11] in both cases by synthesis of anhydrovinblastine, which "can be considered as the key intermediate for the synthesis of vinorelbine." [7] The leurosine pathway uses the Nugent–RajanBabu reagent in a highly chemoselective de-oxygenation of leurosine. [12] [11] Anhydrovinblastine is then reacted sequentially with N-bromosuccinimide and trifluoroacetic acid followed by silver tetrafluoroborate to yield vinorelbine. [10]
Vinca alkaloids are used in chemotherapy for cancer. They are a class of cell cycle–specific cytotoxic drugs that work by inhibiting the ability of cancer cells to divide: Acting upon tubulin, they prevent it from forming into microtubules, a necessary component for cellular division. [13] The vinca alkaloids thus prevent microtubule polymerization, as opposed to the mechanism of action of taxanes.
Vinca alkaloids are now produced synthetically and used as drugs in cancer therapy and as immunosuppressive drugs. These compounds include vinblastine, vincristine, vindesine, and vinorelbine. Additional researched vinca alkaloids include vincaminol, vineridine, and vinburnine.
Vinpocetine is a semi-synthetic derivative of vincamine (sometimes described as "a synthetic ethyl ester of apovincamine"). [14]
Minor vinca alkaloids include minovincine, methoxyminovincine, minovincinine, vincadifformine, desoxyvincaminol, and vincamajine. [15] [16] [17]
Alkaloids are a class of basic, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Some synthetic compounds of similar structure may also be termed alkaloids. In addition to carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen, alkaloids may also contain oxygen or sulfur. More rarely still, they may contain elements such as phosphorus, chlorine, and bromine.
Catharanthus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae. Like the genus Vinca, they are known commonly as periwinkles. There are eight known species. Seven are endemic to Madagascar, though one, C. roseus, is widely naturalized around the world. The eighth species, C. pusillus, is native to India and Sri Lanka. The name Catharanthus comes from the Greek for "pure flower".
Tubulin in molecular biology can refer either to the tubulin protein superfamily of globular proteins, or one of the member proteins of that superfamily. α- and β-tubulins polymerize into microtubules, a major component of the eukaryotic cytoskeleton. Microtubules function in many essential cellular processes, including mitosis. Tubulin-binding drugs kill cancerous cells by inhibiting microtubule dynamics, which are required for DNA segregation and therefore cell division.
Laboratoires Pierre Fabre is a French multinational pharmaceutical and cosmetics company. The company had a consolidated turnover of 1.978 billion euros in 2012. It is headquartered in the city of Castres, Midi-Pyrénées, France.
Vincristine, also known as leurocristine and marketed under the brand name Oncovin among others, is a chemotherapy medication used to treat a number of types of cancer. This includes acute lymphocytic leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, Hodgkin's disease, neuroblastoma, and small cell lung cancer among others. It is given intravenously.
Vinca is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae, native to Europe, northwest Africa and southwest Asia. The English name periwinkle is shared with the related genus Catharanthus.
Vinorelbine (NVB), sold under the brand name Navelbine among others, is a chemotherapy medication used to treat a number of types of cancer. This includes breast cancer and non-small cell lung cancer. It is given by injection into a vein or by mouth.
Vinblastine (VBL), sold under the brand name Velban among others, is a chemotherapy medication, typically used with other medications, to treat a number of types of cancer. This includes Hodgkin's lymphoma, non-small cell lung cancer, bladder cancer, brain cancer, melanoma, and testicular cancer. It is given by injection into a vein.
Catharanthus roseus, commonly known as bright eyes, Cape periwinkle, graveyard plant, Madagascar periwinkle, old maid, pink periwinkle, rose periwinkle, is a perennial species of flowering plant in the family Apocynaceae. It is native and endemic to Madagascar, but grown elsewhere as an ornamental and medicinal plant. It is a source of the drugs vincristine and vinblastine, used to treat cancer. It was formerly included in the genus Vinca as Vinca rosea.
Vindesine, also termed Eldisine, is a semisynthetic vinca alkaloid derived from the flowering plant Catharanthus roseus. Like the natural and semisynthetic vinca alkaloids derived from this plant, vindesine is an inhibitor of mitosis that is used as a chemotherapy drug. By inhibiting mitosis, vinedsine blocks the proliferation of cells, particularly the rapidly proliferation cells of certain types of cancer. It is used, generally in combination with other chemotherapeutic drugs, in the treatment of various malignancies such as leukaemia, lymphoma, melanoma, breast cancer, and lung cancer.
Ambovombe-Androy[ambuˈvumbe ˈaɳɖʐuj], or just Ambovombe, is a city in the far south of Madagascar, and the capital of the Androy region. Ambovombe has now acquired city status with an officially estimated population in 2018 of 114,230.
A mitotic inhibitor is a drug that inhibits mitosis, or cell division. These drugs disrupt microtubules, which are structures that pull the chromosomes apart when a cell divides. Mitotic inhibitors are used in cancer treatment, because cancer cells are able to grow and eventually spread through the body (metastasize) through continuous mitotic division. Thus, cancer cells are more sensitive to inhibition of mitosis than normal cells. Mitotic inhibitors are also used in cytogenetics, where they stop cell division at a stage where chromosomes can be easily examined.
Strictosidine synthase (EC 4.3.3.2) is an enzyme in alkaloid biosynthesis that catalyses the condensation of tryptamine with secologanin to form strictosidine in a formal Pictet–Spengler reaction:
Tubulin inhibitors are chemotherapy drugs that interfere directly with the tubulin system, which is in contrast to those chemotherapy drugs acting on DNA. Microtubules play an important role in eukaryotic cells. Alpha- and beta-tubulin, the main components of microtubules, have gained considerable interest because of their function and biophysical properties and has become the subject of intense study. The addition of tubulin ligands can affect microtubule stability and function, including mitosis, cell motion and intracellular organelle transport. Tubulin binding molecules have generated significant interest after the introduction of the taxanes into clinical oncology and the general use of the vinca alkaloids. These compounds inhibit cell mitosis by binding to the protein tubulin in the mitotic spindle and preventing polymerization or depolymerization into the microtubules. This mode of action is also shared with another natural agent called colchicine.
Vincaminol (C20H26N2O2) is a chemical that is a part of the Vinca alkaloid group, which were discovered in the 1950s by a Canadian scientist and are derived from Vinca minor (periwinkle). Vincaminol is not as well known as some of the other Vinca alkaloids such as vinblastine, vinorelbine, vincristine, and vindesine, which are the four main, medically useful Vinca alkaloids.
Akuammicine is a monoterpene indole alkaloid of the Vinca sub-group. It is found in the Apocynaceae family of plants including Picralima nitida, Vinca minor and the Aspidosperma.
Strictosidine is a natural chemical compound and is classified as a glucoalkaloid and a vinca alkaloid. It is formed by the Pictet–Spengler condensation reaction of tryptamine with secologanin, catalyzed by the enzyme strictosidine synthase. Thousands of strictosidine derivatives are sometimes referred to by the broad phrase of monoterpene indole alkaloids. Strictosidine is an intermediate in the biosynthesis of numerous pharmaceutically valuable metabolites including quinine, camptothecin, ajmalicine, serpentine, vinblastine, vincristine and mitragynine.
16-Hydroxytabersonine is a terpene indole alkaloid produced by the plant Catharanthus roseus. The metabolite is an intermediate in the formation of vindoline, a precursor needed for formation of the pharmaceutically valuable vinblastine and vincristine. 16-hydroxytabersonine is formed from the hydroxylation of tabersonine by tabersonine 16-hydroxylase (T16H). Tabersonine 16-O-methyltransferase (16OMT) methylates the hydroxylated 16 position to form 16-methoxytabersonine.
Bis(cyclopentadienyl)titanium(III) chloride, also known as the Nugent–RajanBabu reagent, is the organotitanium compound which exists as a dimer with the formula [(C5H5)2TiCl]2. It is an air sensitive green solid. The complex finds specialized use in synthetic organic chemistry as a single electron reductant.
Conophylline is a autophagy inducing vinca alkaloid found in several species of Tabernaemontana including Ervatamia microphylla and Tabernaemontana divaricata. Among its many functional groups is an epoxide: the compound where that ring is replaced with a double bond is called conophyllidine and this co-occurs in the same plants.