Recent advances in the study of the bioactive conformation of taxol.
Paclitaxel is one of the most important chemotherapeutic drugs in the fight against cancer. This minireview covers the recent advances in the study of the bioactive conformation of paclitaxel in tubulin/microtubules. The tubulin-bound structure of paclitaxel has been studied by means of photoaffinity labeling, cryo-electron microscopy, solid-state NMR, molecular modeling, MD simulations and the synthesis of conformationally restrained analogues and paclitaxel mimics. The bioactive conformation of paclitaxel is important since it could provide critical information that would allow the design of novel analogues with simpler structures and/or increased potency against cancer.
Sun
Liang
L
Department of Chemistry and Institute of Chemical Biology & Drug Discovery, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York 11794-3400, USA.
Simmerling
Carlos
C
Ojima
Iwao
I
D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / Q000737:chemistry*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D008870:Microtubules / Q000378:metabolism; D017239:Paclitaxel / Q000737:chemistry*; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; D017239:Paclitaxel