Camptothecin

November 18, 2024
I鈥檓 a natural product that gave birth to cancer chemotherapies.
What molecule am I?
Image of Camptothecin 3D Image of Camptothecin

Camptothecin1 is an alkaloid that was isolated in 1966 from the stems and bark of the Chinese tree Camptotheca acuminata by Monroe E. Wall at Research Triangle Institute (RTI; Durham, NC) and colleagues there and at the University of Illinois (Urbana鈥揅hampaign). Portions of the tree had been used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat leukemia and other cancerous tumors.

In 1969, the Wall team at RTI described . Six years later, E. J. Corey and co-workers at Harvard University (Cambridge, MA) reported its total synthesis via a in which the five-ring structure was formed in the last step.

Camptothecin鈥檚 mode of action is inhibition of DNA topoisomerases: enzymes that change DNA topology, which often leads to the formation of cancer cells. It has been developed as a cancer therapy; but because of pharmacological and side-effect problems, several derivatives have been developed and approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for treating cancer. These include irinotecan2 (approved in 1996), topotecan3 (2007), and trastuzumab deruxtecan4 (2019).

For additional information about camptothecin, see the on the molecule.

1. SciFindern name: 1H-辫测谤补苍辞摆3鈥�,4鈥�:6,7闭颈苍诲辞濒颈锄颈苍辞摆1,2-b]quinoline-3,14(4H,12H)-dione, 4-ethyl-4-hydroxy-.
2. CAS Reg. No. 97682-44-5.
3. CAS Reg. No. 123948-87-8.
4. CAS Reg. No. 1826843-81-5.

Camptothecin聽hazard information

Hazard class*GHS code and hazard statement
Acute toxicity, oral, category 3H301鈥擳oxic if swallowedChemical Safety Warning
Germ cell mutagenicity, category 1BH340鈥擬ay cause genetic defectsChemical Safety Warning

*Globally Harmonized System (GHS) of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals. .

Molecule of the Future

ABBV-CLS-4841 (AC484, osunprotafib) is a thiadiazolidinone dioxide2 derivative developed at AbbVie (North Chicago, IL), Calico Life Sciences (South San Francisco, CA), and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard (Cambridge, MA). It is a protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP) inhibitor designed to make difficult targets in cancer cells more accessible.

AC484 and similar compounds were first described in 2020 in to inventors Geoff T. Halvorsen, Jennifer M. Frost, and Philip R. Kym at Abbvie. The patent鈥檚 abstract states that the compounds are 鈥渇or treating diseases, disorders, and conditions favorably responsive to [PTP] inhibitor treatment, e.g., a cancer or a metabolic disease.鈥�

Molecule of the Future: ABBV-CLS-484

In July 2023, Florian Wiede, Tony Tiganis, and co-workers at Monash University (Clayton, Australia) and collaborators there and at other Australian and American institutions reported that and N2 and enhances T cell ani-tumor immunity. The following October, a large team of researchers at Abbvie, Calico, and the Broad Institute described the details of the discovery of AC484, its immune cell activation, and its control of tumor growth.

For more information, go to accounts of AC484鈥檚 ability to promote cancer immunotherapy by at two Chinese universities and .

1. CAS Reg. No. 2489404-97-7; SciFindern name: 1,2,5-thiadiazolidin-3-one, 5-{(7R)-1-fluoro-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-3-hydroxy-7-[(3-methylbutyl)amino]-2-naphthalenyl}-, 1,1-dioxide.
2.聽 CAS Reg. No. 883050-24-6.

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Camptothecin聽fast facts

CAS Reg. No.7689-03-4
Empirical
formula
C20H16N2O4
Molar mass348.35 g/mol
AppearanceLight yellow crystals or powder
Melting point260鈥�277掳颁a
Water
solubility
鈮�3 mg/L

a. Most references report narrower melting ranges.

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