Plicamycin (
INN
Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accommo ...
, also known as mithramycin; trade name Mithracin) is an
antineoplastic antibiotic produced by ''
Streptomyces plicatus
''Streptomyces rochei'' is a bacterium species from the genus of ''Streptomyces'' which has been isolated from soil in Russia.Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen]/ref> ''Streptomyces rochei'' produces borrelidin, butyrolactol ...
''. It is an RNA synthesis inhibitor. The manufacturer discontinued production in 2000. Several different structures are currently reported in different places all with the same chromomycin core, but with different stereochemistry in the glycoside chain, a 1999 study has re-investigated the compound and proposed a revised structure.
Uses
Plicamycin has been used in the treatment of
testicular cancer
Testicular cancer is cancer that develops in the testicles, a part of the male reproductive system. Symptoms may include a lump in the testicle, or swelling or pain in the scrotum. Treatment may result in infertility.
Risk factors include an ...
,
Paget's disease of bone
Paget's disease of bone (commonly known as Paget's disease or, historically, osteitis deformans) is a condition involving cellular remodeling and deformity of one or more bones. The affected bones show signs of dysregulated bone remodeling at the ...
, and, rarely, the management of
hypercalcemia.
Plicamycin has been tested in
chronic myeloid leukemia
Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), also known as chronic myeloid leukemia, is a cancer of the white blood cells. It is a form of leukemia characterized by the increased and unregulated growth of myeloid cells in the bone marrow and the accumulati ...
.
Plicamycin is currently used in multiple areas of research, including cancer cell apoptosis and as a metastasis inhibitor.
One elucidated pathway shows it interacts by cross-binding
chromatin
Chromatin is a complex of DNA and protein found in eukaryotic cells. The primary function is to package long DNA molecules into more compact, denser structures. This prevents the strands from becoming tangled and also plays important roles in r ...
GC-rich promoter motifs, thereby inhibiting
gene transcription
Transcription is the process of copying a segment of DNA into RNA. The segments of DNA transcribed into RNA molecules that can encode proteins are said to produce messenger RNA (mRNA). Other segments of DNA are copied into RNA molecules called ...
.
References
External links
Mithramycin A from Center for Pharmaceutical Research and Innovation
{{Xenobiotic-sensing receptor modulators
DNA replication inhibitors