RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Brominated Derivatives of Noscapine Are Potent Microtubule-interfering Agents That Perturb Mitosis and Inhibit Cell Proliferation
JF Molecular Pharmacology
JO Mol Pharmacol
FD American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
SP 799
OP 807
DO 10.1124/mol.63.4.799
VO 63
IS 4
A1 Jun Zhou
A1 Kamlesh Gupta
A1 Shefali Aggarwal
A1 Ritu Aneja
A1 Ramesh Chandra
A1 Dulal Panda
A1 Harish C. Joshi
YR 2003
UL http://molpharm.aspetjournals.org/content/63/4/799.abstract
AB Noscapine, a microtubule-interfering agent, has been shown to arrest mitosis, to induce apoptosis, and to have potent antitumor activity. We report herein that two brominated derivatives of noscapine, 5-bromonoscapine (5-Br-nosc) and reduced 5-bromonoscapine (Rd 5-Br-nosc), have higher tubulin binding activity than noscapine and affect tubulin polymerization differently from noscapine. In addition, they are able to arrest cell cycle progression at mitosis at concentrations much lower than noscapine. Interestingly, whereas noscapine-arrested cells have nearly normal bipolar spindles, cells arrested by 5-Br-nosc and Rd 5-Br-nosc form multipolar spindles. Nevertheless, noscapine and the two derivatives all affect the attachment of chromosomes to spindle microtubules and they impair the tension across paired kinetochores to similar degrees. 5-Br-nosc and Rd 5-Br-nosc are also more active than noscapine in inhibiting the proliferation of various human cancer cells, including those that are resistant to paclitaxel and epothilone. Our results thus indicate a great potential for the use of 5-Br-nosc and Rd 5-Br-nosc both as biological tools for studying microtubule-mediated processes and as chemotherapeutic agents for the treatment of human cancers. The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics