A looking glass perspective: thalidomide and cyclopamine. NLM AIDSLINE Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2000. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

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A looking glass perspective: thalidomide and cyclopamine.

Cell Mol Biol (Noisy-le-grand). 1999 Jul;45(5):579-88. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE MED/99440741
Gaffield W; Incardona JP; Kapur RP; Roelink H; Western Regional Research Center, ARS, USDA, Albany CA 94710,; USA. wg@pw.usda.gov

Abstract: Numerous naturally-occurring and synthetic compounds that were discovered initially because of their toxic properties, were later shown to possess biological activities beneficial to humans that enabled them to serve as templates for the development of useful medicinal agents. A prominent example is thalidomide, a synthetic drug that gained notoriety originally due to its catastrophic teratogenicity in humans. The discovery of thalidomide's efficacy in treating several diseases has resulted in the recrudescence of the drug to society's usage. A current example of this phenomenon is the plant teratogen cyclopamine (11-deoxojervine), whose deleterious terata-inducing effects were restricted to grazing animals, but whose recently discovered inhibition of Sonic hedgehog signal transduction has provided both the potential to increase our understanding of organogenesis and to serve as a lead compound in drug development.
Keywords: JOURNAL ARTICLE REVIEW REVIEW, TUTORIAL Abnormalities, Drug-Induced/ETIOLOGY Animal Bioethics Human Proteins/DRUG EFFECTS/GENETICS/*METABOLISM Sedatives, Nonbarbiturate/CHEMISTRY/PHARMACOLOGY Signal Transduction Teratogens/CHEMISTRY/*PHARMACOLOGY Thalidomide/CHEMISTRY/*PHARMACOLOGY Veratrum Alkaloids/CHEMISTRY/*PHARMACOLOGY

KWDjournalarticlereviewreview,tutorialabnormalities,drug-induced/etiologyanimalbioethicshumanproteins/drugeffects/genetics/KWDmetabolismsedatives,nonbarbiturate/chemistry/pharmacologysignaltransductionteratogens/chemistry/KWDpharmacologythalidomide/chemistry/KWDpharmacologyveratrumalkaloids/chemistry/KWDpharmacology
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