Cephalotaxus alkaloids
Appearance
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/Villa_Taranto_-_Cephalotaxus_Adenauer.jpg/220px-Villa_Taranto_-_Cephalotaxus_Adenauer.jpg)
Cephalotaxus alkaloids are natural products characterized by pentacyclic structure.
Occurrence
[edit]These alkaloids are commonly found in the plum yew species (Cephalotaxus), especially in the Japanese plum-yew.[1]
Representative
[edit]The most important representative is cephalotaxin. Other notable representatives include harringtonine and homoharringtonine.[1]
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(-)-Cephalotaxin
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(-)-Harringtonine
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(-)-Homoharringtonine
Properties
[edit]Harringtonine and homoharringtonine exhibit antitumor activity and act against murine leukemia cells. They serve as protein and DNA biosynthesis inhibitors and are used against acute myelocytoxic leukemia.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Entry on Cephalotaxus-Alkaloide. at: Römpp Online. Georg Thieme Verlag, retrieved {{{Datum}}}.