Artemisinin Derivatives Target Topoisomerase 1 and Cause DNA Damage and .

DNA topoisomerases 1 and 2 are enzymes that maintain DNA topology and play important essential genome functions, including DNA replication and transcription. Aberrant topoisomerases cause genome instability and a wide range of diseases, cancer in particular. Both Topo 1 and 2 are the targets of valuable anticancer drugs, such as camptothecin.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of a D-ring-contracted analogue of lamellarin D.

A D-ring contracted analogue of the strongly cytotoxic marine pyrrole alkaloid lamellarin D was synthesized and investigated for its antiproliferative action towards a wild type and a multidrug resistant (MDR) cancer cell line. The compound was found to inhibit tumor cell growth at submicromolar concentrations and showed a lower relative resistance in the MDR cell line than the antitumor drug camptothecin to which lamellarin D shows cross resistance and with which lamellarin D shares the same binding site.