Molecular Playground/Taxol: Difference between revisions

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Rohan Patil, Lynmarie K Thompson, Sarah Wilson, Elizabeth Cummings, Michal Harel, Alexander Berchansky

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 One of the [[CBI Molecules]]  being studied in the  [http://www.umass.edu/cbi/ University of Massachusetts Amherst Chemistry-Biology Interface Program] at UMass Amherst and on display at the [http://www.molecularplayground.org/ Molecular Playground].
-Paclitaxel, also called as Taxol, is a plant derived anticancer drug. It was first isolated from the bark of Pacific yew tree, ''Taxus brevifolia''. Paclitaxel is a complex diterpenoid product, with a bulky, fused ring system as well as a number of hydrophobic substituents. It has been FDA approved for the treatment of ovarian, breast and non-small cell lung cancer. Taxol binds to the ends of microtubules and inhibits further microtubule elongation.  This prevents the cell from dividing and causes the cell to die. Because cancer cells divide much quicker than normal cells, taxol predominantly attacks tumors.
+Paclitaxel, also called Taxol (Bristol-Myers Squibb), is a plant derived anticancer drug that was first isolated from the bark of Pacific yew tree, ''Taxus brevifolia'', in 1971. It is a complex diterpenoid with a bulky, fused ring system as well as a number of hydrophobic substituents. It is currently being used in the treatment of ovarian, breast and lung cancers, and additional therapies are being developed for treatment of Alzheimer's and post-heart surgery patients. Taxol causes cell death by promoting the assembly of microtubules, preventing cell mitosis.
+Originally, paclitaxel was produced through the extraction of the drug from the bark of ''Taxus'' trees. This process was unsustainable because nearly 40,000 trees were required to meet the demands for the drug each year. A semi-synthetic route was developed which utilized Taxol precursors which can be extracted from the needles of ''Taxus'' trees.
 Presently, taxol supply is made available either through a semi-synthetic route using precursors isolated from needles of yew species or through ''Taxus'' cell suspension cultures. ''Taxus'' cell suspension culture is an alternative to stripping bark from ''Taxus'' trees and extracting precursors from needles.