title: Microtubule-binding agents: a dynamic field of cancer therapeutics.
abstract: Microtubules are dynamic filamentous cytoskeletal proteins composed of tubulin and are an important therapeutic target in tumour cells. Agents that bind to microtubules have been part of the pharmacopoeia of anticancer therapy for decades and until the advent of targeted therapy, microtubules were the only alternative to DNA as a therapeutic target in cancer. The screening of a range of botanical species and marine organisms has yielded promising new antitubulin agents with novel properties. In the current search for novel microtubule-binding agents, enhanced tumour specificity, reduced neurotoxicity and insensitivity to chemoresistance mechanisms are the three main objectives.
authors.affiliation: INSERM 590, Faculté Rockefeller, 8 Avenue Rockefeller, 69008 Lyon, France and Université Lyon 1, ISPB, Lyon, F-69003, France. charles.dumontet@chu-lyon.fr
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dumontet
authors.forename: Mary Ann
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Jordan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D008870:Microtubules / Q000378:metabolism*; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism*; D011485:Protein Binding / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins