Aphidicolin is a tetracyclic
diterpene antibiotic
An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the treatment and prevention of ...
isolated from the fungus ''
Cephalosporum aphidicola'' with antiviral and antimitotic properties. Aphidicolin is a reversible
inhibitor
Inhibitor or inhibition may refer to:
In biology
* Enzyme inhibitor, a substance that binds to an enzyme and decreases the enzyme's activity
* Reuptake inhibitor, a substance that increases neurotransmission by blocking the reuptake of a neurotra ...
of
eukaryotic nuclear
DNA replication. It blocks the cell cycle at early
S phase
S phase (Synthesis Phase) is the phase of the cell cycle in which DNA is replicated, occurring between G1 phase and G2 phase. Since accurate duplication of the genome is critical to successful cell division, the processes that occur during ...
. It is a specific inhibitor of
DNA polymerase Alpha and
Delta in eukaryotic cells and in some viruses (
vaccinia and
herpesviruses) and an
apoptosis
Apoptosis (from grc, ἀπόπτωσις, apóptōsis, 'falling off') is a form of programmed cell death that occurs in multicellular organisms. Biochemical events lead to characteristic cell changes (morphology) and death. These changes incl ...
inducer in
HeLa cells. Natural aphidicolin is a secondary metabolite of the fungus ''
Nigrospora oryzae''.
Aphidicolin product page
from Fermentek
Bibliography
*
*
References
Antibiotics
Transferase inhibitors
Diterpenes
Cyclopentanes
DNA polymerase inhibitors
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