China
Africa
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Production of Antibiotics and Anti-Tumor Agents
Published in Nduka Okafor, Benedict C. Okeke, Modern Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology, 2017
Nduka Okafor, Benedict C. Okeke
The antitumor antibiotics are heterogeneous in their chemical natures. Some of the best known groups used in clinical practice include anthracyclines, actinomycins, and bleomycins. In terms of their modes of action, their common characteristic seems to be interaction in some form with DNA. Daunomycin and adriamycin which are anthracyclines link up base pairs and thus inhibit RNAand DNAsynthesis. Mithramycin and chromomycin A3 which are actinomycins inhibit DNA-dependent RNA synthesis. On the other hand, bleomycins which are peptides react with DNA and cause it to break. Other antitumor antibiotics operate through alkylation, e.g. streptonigrin, mitomycin C, and profiromycin. Still others interfere with membrane functions or interact with the microtubules in the cell. The basis of all chemotherapy whether with antibacterial or with antitumor drugs is the ability of the drugs to selectively attack the pathogen or the errant tumor cell. In the well-known case of penicillin for example, the absence of mucopeptides in animal cell wall is the key to the operation of the drug. Several mechanisms have been suggested which allow the selective attack of antitumor drugs on tumor cells. These include inability of the tumor cell to repair damage by the antitumor drug, higher distribution of the drug in tumor than in normal cells, greater ability to inactivate tumor cells. These are based on structural and biochemical differences between normal and tumor cells. Unfortunately, antitumor antibiotics as well as other antitumor drugs do not always discriminate successfully between tumor and normal cells. Varying degrees of toxicity therefore usually accompany the use of antitumor antibiotics. The most severe of these is damage to the bone marrow which is involved in synthesis of blood components, a damage that may be fatal. Toxicity is in many cases being successfully handled clinically by various means including reduced dosage, change of route of administration, etc. Less toxic antibiotics are also being produced by semi-synthesis or by the modification of the antibiotic molecule.
DNA damage and reticular stress in cytotoxicity and oncotic cell death of MCF-7 cells treated with fluopsin C
Published in Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part A, 2022
Luan Vitor Alves de Lima, Matheus Felipe da Silva, Virginia Marcia Concato, Débora Berbel Lirio Rondina, Thalita Alves Zanetti, Ingrid Felicidade, Lilian Areal Marques, Sandra Regina Lepri, Ane Stéfano Simionato, Galdino Andrade Filho, Giuliana Castello Coatti, Mário Sérgio Mantovani
In addition to antibiotic drug usage against microorganisms, antibiotic compounds are one of the main classes of natural products used clinically as chemotherapeutic agents including doxorubicin, daunorubicin, epirubicin, mitoxantrone, pirarubicin, mitomycin, bleomycin, pingyangmycin, actinomycin, and mithramycin (Blanchard 2015; Cragg and Newman 2001; Demain and Vaishnav 2011; Eskandari et al. 2021; Khasraw, Bell, and Dang 2012; Liu et al. 2018; Marquez et al. 2020; Saeidnia 2015; Zhao et al. 2017). However, the search for new antitumor drugs is still necessary due to side effects and resistance to chemotherapy (Abushaheen et al 2020; Cagan and Meyer 2017; Nezhad et al. 2021; Wencewicz 2019).