Title:Recent Developments and Anticancer Therapeutics of Paclitaxel: An Update
Volume: 28
Issue: 41
Author(s): Anees Ahmed Khalil, Abdur Rauf, Fahad A. Alhumaydhi, Abdullah S.M. Aljohani, Muhammad Sameem Javed, Muhammad Arslan Khan, Imtiaz Ali Khan, Mohamed A. El-Esawi, Sami Bawazeer, Abdelhakim Bouyahya, Maksim Rebezov, Mohammad Ali Shariati and Muthu Thiruvengadam*
Affiliation:
- Department of Applied Bioscience, College of Life and
Environmental Sciences, Konkuk University, Seoul 05029, South Korea
- Department of Microbiology, Saveetha Dental College
and Hospital, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences (SIMATS), Chennai 600077, India
Keywords:
Paclitaxel, taxol, biosynthesis, anticancer, nanomedicine, cancer.
Abstract: Plants are a source of diverse classes of secondary metabolites with anticancer properties. Paclitaxel
(Taxol) is an anticancer drug isolated from various Taxus species and is used as a chemotherapeutic agent
against various cancers. The biosynthesis of paclitaxel is a complex pathway, making its total chemical synthesis
commercially non-viable; hence, alternative novel sources - like plant cell culture and heterologous expression
systems, are being investigated to overcome this issue. Advancements in the field of genetic engineering,
microbial fermentation engineering, and recombinant techniques have significantly increased the achievable
yields of paclitaxel. Indeed, paclitaxel selectively targets microtubules and causes cell cycle arrest in the G2/M
phase, inducing a cytotoxic effect in a concentration and time-dependent manner. Innovative drug delivery formulations,
like the development of albumin-bound nanoparticles, nano-emulsions, nano-suspensions, liposomes,
and polymeric micelles, have been applied to enhance the delivery of paclitaxel to tumor cells. This review
focuses on the production, biosynthesis, mechanism of action, and anticancer effects of paclitaxel.