Acylfulvene is a class of

cytotoxic Cytotoxicity is the quality of being toxic to cells. Examples of toxic agents are an immune cell or some types of venom, e.g. from the puff adder (''Bitis arietans'') or brown recluse spider (''Loxosceles reclusa''). Cell physiology Treating cells ...

semi-synthetic derivatives of

illudin The illudins are a family of sesquiterpenes with antitumor antibiotic properties produced by some mushrooms. In their isolated form, illudins show selective toxicity for myelocytic leukemia and other carcinoma cells. Illudins are highly toxic, w ...

, a natural product that can be extracted from the jack o'lantern mushroom ''(

Omphalotus olearius ''Omphalotus olearius'',Singer R (1948) In: ''Pap. Mich. Acad. Sci.'' 32: 133 ('1946'). commonly known as the jack-o'-lantern mushroom, is a poisonous Orange (color), orange gilled mushroom that to an untrained eye appears similar to some Cantha ...

)''. One important acylfulvene, 6-hydroxymethylacylfulvene (

irofulven Irofulven or 6-hydroxymethylacylfulvene (also known as HMAF of MGI-114) is an experimental antitumor agent. It belongs to the family of drugs called alkylating agents. It inhibits the replication of DNA in cell culture. Irofulven is an analogu ...

), has been evaluated for the treatment of a wide assortment of cancers and tumors. It is thought that acylfulvene compounds kill cancer cells by DNA

alkylation Alkylation is the transfer of an alkyl group from one molecule to another. The alkyl group may be transferred as an alkyl carbocation, a free radical, a carbanion, or a carbene (or their equivalents). Alkylating agents are reagents for effecting ...

(see

DNA methylation DNA methylation is a biological process by which methyl groups are added to the DNA molecule. Methylation can change the activity of a DNA segment without changing the sequence. When located in a gene promoter, DNA methylation typically acts t ...

).Woynarowski, Jan M.; Napier, Cheryl; Koester, Steven K.; Chen, Shih-Fong; Troyer, Dean; Chapman, William; Macdonald, John R. Biochemical Pharmacology (1997), 54 (11), 1181-1193 CODEN: BCPCA6; . (Elsevier Science Inc.)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Acylfulvene Enones Tertiary alcohols Spiro compounds Cyclopropanes