Taxanes and taxoids of the genus Taxus - A comprehensive inventory of chemical diversity

B Markus Lange; Caleb F Conner

doi:10.1016/j.phytochem.2021.112829

Taxanes and taxoids of the genus Taxus - A comprehensive inventory of chemical diversity

Phytochemistry. 2021 Oct:190:112829. doi: 10.1016/j.phytochem.2021.112829. Epub 2021 Jul 27.

Authors

B Markus Lange¹, Caleb F Conner²

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Biological Chemistry and M.J. Murdock Metabolomics Laboratory, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99164-7411, USA. Electronic address: lange-m@wsu.edu.
² Institute of Biological Chemistry and M.J. Murdock Metabolomics Laboratory, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99164-7411, USA.

Abstract

The pseudoalkaloid diterpene Taxol® (paclitaxel) emerged as a best-selling anti-cancer drug in the mid-1990s. The compound attracted considerable interest because of its unique mechanism to stabilize microtubules, thus reducing dynamicity and ultimately promoting mitotic arrest. Taxol was originally isolated from members of the genus Taxus. Over the last 50 years, close to 600 metabolites with taxane scaffolds were isolated from various Taxus species and their structures reported. The present review article provides an overview of the known chemical diversity of taxanes, with an emphasis on the functionalization of diterpene scaffolds. The implications of the occurrence of chemically diverse taxane metabolites for unraveling Taxol biosynthesis and enabling pathway engineering are discussed as well.

Keywords: Taxane; Taxoid; Taxol; Taxus.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Antineoplastic Agents*
Diterpenes*
Paclitaxel
Taxoids
Taxus*

Substances

Antineoplastic Agents
Diterpenes
Taxoids
Paclitaxel

Grants and funding

R01 AT010593/AT/NCCIH NIH HHS/United States