Latest medical research news.
Researchers from Université Libre de Bruxelles discover that alkaloid found in Daffodils has anti-cancer properties. This alkaloid called haemanthamine works by triggering activation of anti-tumor surveillance pathway.
Highlights
- Anticancer drug haemanthamine binds to the A-site of the large ribosomal subunit
- Haemanthamine binding induces unique rRNA conformational rearrangements
- Haemanthamine and congeners specifically inhibit early stages of ribosome biogenesis
- Haemanthamine activates a p53-dependent antitumoral nucleolar stress response
Researchers found that this compound binds to the ribosome and blocks the production of proteins. Haemanthamine also inhibits the production of these ribosomes in the nucleolus. This nucleolar stress triggers the activation of an anti-tumoral surveillance pathway leading to the stabilization of the protein p53 and the elimination of cancer cells.
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