Phorbol esters are a class of chemical compounds found in a variety of plants, particularly in the families

Euphorbiaceae Euphorbiaceae (), the spurge family, is a large family of flowering plants. In English, they are also commonly called euphorbias, which is also the name of Euphorbia, the type genus of the family. Most spurges, such as ''Euphorbia paralias'', ar ...

and

Thymelaeaceae The Thymelaeaceae are a cosmopolitan family (biology), family of flowering plants composed of 50 genera (listed below) and 898 species.Zachary S. Rogers (2009 onwards)A World Checklist of Thymelaeaceae (version 1) Missouri Botanical Garden Webs ...

. Chemically, they are

ester In chemistry, an ester is a compound derived from an acid (either organic or inorganic) in which the hydrogen atom (H) of at least one acidic hydroxyl group () of that acid is replaced by an organyl group (R). These compounds contain a distin ...

derivatives of the tetracyclic

diterpenoid Diterpenes are a class of terpenes composed of four isoprene units, often with the molecular formula C20H32. They are biosynthesized by plants, animals and fungi via the HMG-CoA reductase pathway, with geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate being a primar ...

phorbol Phorbol is a natural, plant-derived organic compound. It is a member of the tigliane family of terpene, diterpenes. Phorbol was first isolated in 1934 via the hydrolysis of croton oil, which is derived from the seeds of the purging croton, ''Crot ...

Biological activity

Protein kinase C In cell biology, protein kinase C, commonly abbreviated to PKC (EC 2.7.11.13), is a family of protein kinase enzymes that are involved in controlling the function of other proteins through the phosphorylation of hydroxyl groups of serine and t ...

(PKC) is a phorbol ester receptor. Phorbol esters can stimulate PKC in a similar way to diglycerides. Phorbol esters are known for their ability to promote tumors. In particular,

12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate 12-''O''-Tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), also commonly known as tetradecanoylphorbol acetate, tetradecanoyl phorbol acetate, and phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) is a diester of phorbol. It is a potent Tumor promotion, tumor promoter ...

(TPA) is used as a biomedical research tool in models of

carcinogenesis Carcinogenesis, also called oncogenesis or tumorigenesis, is the formation of a cancer, whereby normal cell (biology), cells are malignant transformation, transformed into cancer cells. The process is characterized by changes at the cellular, G ...

. Plants that contain phorbol esters are often poisonous.

References

Diterpenes Carboxylate esters Cyclopentenes Plant toxins {{ester-stub