Title:Noscapine and its Analogs as Chemotherapeutic Agent: Current updates
Volume: 17
Issue: 2
Author(s): Vartika Tomar, Shrikant Kukreti, Satya Prakash, Jitender Madan and Ramesh Chandra
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Noscapine, Therapeutics, Drug discovery, Microtubules, Tubulin, Anti-cancer drugs, Anti-angiogenic and Vascular
targeting agents, Inflammation, Stroke.
Abstract: Recently, noscapine was reported as anticancer drug. Unlike, colchicine and
podophyllotoxin, noscapine did not depolymerize microtubules even at stoichiometric concentrations
but rather only mitigated their dynamics. Other microtubule-interacting chemotherapeutics, although
quite effective, have therapy-limiting toxicities including immunosuppression and peripheral
neuropathies. Recurrent cancers often become resistant. Noscapine however remains effective in
some such instances, e.g., taxane-resistant ovarian cancer. Noscapine and analogs also do not show
signs of neurotoxicity or immunosuppression. In addition, 9-bromo noscapine, Red-9-Br-Nos and
other analogs were characterized for their structure and further studied in detail. On the other hand,
noscapine was shown to be neuroprotective in mouse model of neurodegenerative disease and in
stroke patients. Like low doses of colchicine, noscapine and its analog 9-Br-Noscapine also show
anti-inflammatory activities. There are indications of a preventive use of noscapine in ischemiareperfusion
injury and fibrosis. The entire biosynthetic pathway of noscapine is encoded as gene
cluster within 401 kilo bases of genomic DNA, opening up opportunities for the large-scale
biotechnological production of noscapine for medicinal needs. Thus, noscapine and its derivatives
(noscapinoids) might be cost-effective and safe components for cancer chemotherapy. Owing to its
low toxicity, it also might be useful for preventive use in high-risk situations. This brief review is an
update of current research activity and patents on noscapine and its analogs.
