Abstract

NOSCAPINE: AN ANTI-MITOTIC AGENT

Neerupma Dhiman *, Ankur Sood, Archana Sharma

ABSTRACT

Nowadays cancer has emerged as a leading cause of death. Therefore, the major research is aimed at discovering the drugs which will be more potent and efficacious for the treatment of cancer. For this we have considered Noscapine which has been discovered as safe antitussive agents and binds to tubulin, arrests dividing cells in mitosis and induces apoptosis. Noscapine is a phthaldeisoqiunoline alkaloid obtained from Opium latex. Unlike other opium alkaloids, noscapine is non sedative and has been used as antitussive drug in the paedriatic preparation in various countries. It’s binding to tubulin and further disruption of the spindle in the mitosis process; it has been introduced as an anti-mitotic agent. Many other antimiotic compounds such as paclitaxel and vinblastine are also being used clinically in the treatment of different cancers but all are associated with side effects and have multiple drug resistance. On the other hand it has been reported that noscapine has mimimal side effects. Therefore, noscapine and its analogs have great potential as novel anticancer agents.

Keywords: Noscapine, antimitotic, microtubules, tubulin.