Structural Basis of Noscapine Activation for Tubulin Binding.
Oliva, M.A., Prota, A.E., Rodriguez-Salarichs, J., Bennani, Y.L., Jimenez-Barbero, J., Bargsten, K., Canales, A., Steinmetz, M.O., Diaz, J.F.(2020) J Med Chem 63: 8495-8501
- PubMed: 32657585
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jmedchem.0c00855
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:
6Y6D - PubMed Abstract:
Noscapine is a natural alkaloid that is used as an antitussive medicine. However, it also acts as a weak anticancer agent in certain in vivo models through a mechanism that is largely unknown. Here, we performed structural studies and show that the cytotoxic agent 7A- O -demethoxy-amino-noscapine (7A-aminonoscapine) binds to the colchicine site of tubulin. We suggest that the 7A-methoxy group of noscapine prevents binding to tubulin due to a steric clash of the compound with the T5-loop of α-tubulin. We further propose that the anticancer activity of noscapine arises from a bioactive metabolite that binds to the colchicine site of tubulin to induce mitotic arrest through a microtubule cytoskeleton-based mechanism.
Organizational Affiliation:
Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas Margarita Salas-CSIC, Ramiro de Maeztu, 9, C.P. 28040 Madrid, Spain.