The illudins are a family of

sesquiterpene Sesquiterpenes are a class of terpenes that consist of three isoprene units and often have the molecular formula C15H24. Like monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes may be cyclic or contain rings, including many unique combinations. Biochemical modificatio ...

s with antitumor

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 ...

properties produced by some

mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is t ...

s. In their isolated form, illudins show selective toxicity for myelocytic

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

and other

carcinoma Carcinoma is a malignancy that develops from epithelial cells. Specifically, a carcinoma is a cancer that begins in a tissue that lines the inner or outer surfaces of the body, and that arises from cells originating in the endodermal, mesodermal ...

cells. Illudins are highly toxic, with little apparent therapeutic value in their natural form. Illudins are thought to be responsible for the toxicity of various ''

Omphalotus ''Omphalotus'' is a genus of basidiomycete mushroom, in the family Marasmiaceae, formally circumscribed by Victor Fayod in 1889. Members have the traditional cap and stem structure. They are saprobic, and fruit in clumps on the ground, adjace ...

'' species such as '' O. olearius'' and '' O. illudens'' (Jack o' Lantern mushrooms), and '' O. nidiformis'' (Australian ghost fungus). Active metabolites of illudins damage DNA via an unknown mechanism. In addition, genetic analysis suggests that the illudin-mediated DNA damage is ignored by global

excision repair DNA repair is a collection of processes by which a cell identifies and corrects damage to the DNA molecules that encode its genome. In human cells, both normal metabolic activities and environmental factors such as radiation can cause DNA dama ...

systems unless the lesions occur within stalled replication or

transcription Transcription refers to the process of converting sounds (voice, music etc.) into letters or musical notes, or producing a copy of something in another medium, including: Genetics * Transcription (biology), the copying of DNA into RNA, the fir ...

complexes.

References

{{Reflist Terpenes and terpenoids Tertiary alcohols Enones Spiro compounds Indanes Cyclopropanes