The anticancer agent ellipticine unwinds DNA by intercalative binding in an orientation parallel to base pairs

Ellipticine is a natural plant product that has been found to be a powerful anticancer drug. Although still unclear, its mechanism of action is considered to be mainly based on DNA intercalation and/or the inhibition of topoisomerase II. Many experimental data suggest an intercalation based on stack...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Canals, Albert, Purciolas, Mònica, Aymamí, Joan, Coll, Miquel
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2005
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/108793
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/108793
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Anticancer drugs
intercalating agent
ellipticine derivative
ellipticine
DNA
Antineoplastic agents
DNA binding
drug design
intercalators
Descripción
Sumario:Ellipticine is a natural plant product that has been found to be a powerful anticancer drug. Although still unclear, its mechanism of action is considered to be mainly based on DNA intercalation and/or the inhibition of topoisomerase II. Many experimental data suggest an intercalation based on stacking interactions along the major base-pair axis, but alternative binding modes have been proposed, in particular for ellipticine derivatives. The 1.5 Å resolution structure of ellipticine complexed to a 6 bp oligonucleotide unveils its mode of binding and enables a detailed analysis of the distorting effects of the drug on the DNA. © 2005 International Union of Crystallography - all rights reserved.