Cyclopamine: From Cyclops Lambs to Cancer Treatment

In the late 1960s, the steroidal alkaloid cyclopamine was isolated from the plant Veratrum californicum and identified as the teratogen responsible for craniofacial birth defects including cyclops in the offspring of sheep grazing on mountain ranges in the western United States. Cyclopamine was foun...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of agricultural and food chemistry 2014-07, Vol.62 (30), p.7355-7362
Main Authors: Lee, Stephen T, Welch, Kevin D, Panter, Kip E, Gardner, Dale R, Garrossian, Massoud, Chang, Cheng-Wei Tom
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal Feed - analysis
Animal Feed - toxicity
Animals
Hedgehog Proteins - genetics
Hedgehog Proteins - metabolism
Holoprosencephaly - chemically induced
Holoprosencephaly - pathology
Humans
Mutation
Neoplasms - drug therapy
Plant Extracts - chemistry
Plant Extracts - pharmacology
Sheep, Domestic - abnormalities
Signal Transduction
Teratogens - toxicity
Veratrum - chemistry
Veratrum Alkaloids - chemistry
Veratrum Alkaloids - toxicity
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In the late 1960s, the steroidal alkaloid cyclopamine was isolated from the plant Veratrum californicum and identified as the teratogen responsible for craniofacial birth defects including cyclops in the offspring of sheep grazing on mountain ranges in the western United States. Cyclopamine was found to inhibit the hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway, which plays a critical role in embryonic development. More recently, aberrant Hh signaling has been implicated in several types of cancer. Thus, inhibitors of the Hh signaling pathway, including cyclopamine derivatives, have been targeted as potential treatments for certain cancers and other diseases associated with the Hh signaling pathway. A brief history of cyclopamine and cyclopamine derivatives investigated for the treatment of cancer is presented.
ISSN:0021-8561
1520-5118
DOI:10.1021/jf5005622