JACS: researchers develop more effective anticancer drugs from natural products

June 11, 2019 / BIOON / - a new study by a chemical researcher at the University of Arkansas reveals the key molecular mechanism of ipomoeasin F Ipomoeasin f is a highly toxic natural product, which can inhibit the growth of many tumor cell lines This discovery may lead to the design of more effective anticancer drugs Ipomoeasin f is a member of the resinous glycoside family, which is a common secondary metabolite of morning glory Ipomoeasin f can significantly inhibit the growth of a variety of tumor cell lines, which is similar to many clinical anticancer drugs, but up to now, researchers have not understood its biological and pharmacological mechanisms Photo source: Zhijian Hu, a doctoral student in the Department of chemistry and biochemistry of JACS, tested the cytotoxicity of nearly 60 homologues with similar structures to study the structural characteristics of ipomoeasin F Hu then found that Sec61 α was the key protein for the binding of biotin and Sec61 α Fluorescence imaging confirmed the discovery The researchers found that the fluorescent signal was confined to the endoplasmic reticulum, the cytoplasmic membrane of eukaryotic cells that had settled in Sec61 α Hu further verified that Sec61 α was the main molecular target by Western blotting The study, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, provides a new molecular tool to further understand the properties of Sec61 α and its new targets for potential therapeutic drug discovery Reference: Guangdong Zong et al Ipomoeasin f bonds Sec61 α to inhibit protein transfer, Journal of the American Chemical Society (2019) Doi: 10.1021/jacs.8b13506