Dactinomycin

Dactinomycin

Systematic (IUPAC) name
2-Amino-N,N′- bis[(6S,9R,10S,13R,18aS)-6,13-diisopropyl-2,5,9-trimethyl-1,4,7,11,14-pentaoxohexadecahydro-1H-pyrrolo[2,1-i][1,4,7,10,13]oxatetraazacyclohexadecin-10-yl]-4,6-dimethyl-3-oxo-3H-phenoxazine-1,9-dicarboxamide
Clinical data
Trade names	Cosmegen
AHFS/Drugs.com	monograph
MedlinePlus	a682224
Pregnancy category	AU: D US: D (Evidence of risk)
Legal status	AU: S4 (Prescription only) CA: ℞-only UK: POM (Prescription only) US: ℞-only
Routes of administration	IV
Pharmacokinetic data
Protein binding	5%
Biological half-life	36 hours
Identifiers
CAS Number	50-76-0 Y
ATC code	L01DA01 (WHO)
PubChem	CID: 2019
DrugBank	DB00970 N
ChemSpider	10482167 Y
UNII	1CC1JFE158 Y
KEGG	C06770 N
ChEBI	CHEBI:27666 Y
ChEMBL	CHEMBL1554 Y
NIAID ChemDB	009885
Synonyms	Actinomycin D 2-Amino- 4,6-dimethyl- 3-oxo- 3H-phenoxazine- 1,9-dicarboxylic acid bis- [(5,12-diisopropyl- 9,13,16-trimethyl- 4,7,11,14,17-pentaoxo- hexadecahydro- 10-oxa- 3a,6,13,16-tetraaza- cyclopentacyclohexadecen- 8-yl)- amide]
Chemical data
Formula	C62H86N12O16
Molecular mass	1255.42 g/mol
InChI InChI=1S/C62H86N12O16/c1-27(2)42-59(84)73-23-17-19-36(73)57(82)69(13)25-38(75)71(15)48(29(5)6)61(86)88-33(11)44(55(80)65-42)67-53(78)35-22-21-31(9)51-46(35)64-47-40(41(63)50(77)32(10)52(47)90-51)54(79)68-45-34(12)89-62(87)49(30(7)8)72(16)39(76)26-70(14)58(83)37-20-18-24-74(37)60(85)43(28(3)4)66-56(45)81/h21-22,27-30,33-34,36-37,42-45,48-49H,17-20,23-26,63H2,1-16H3,(H,65,80)(H,66,81)(H,67,78)(H,68,79)/t33-,34-,36+,37+,42-,43-,44+,45+,48+,49+/m1/s1 Y Key:RJURFGZVJUQBHK-IIXSONLDSA-N Y
NY (what is this?)  (verify)

Dactinomycin. also known as actinomycin D, is the most significant member of actinomycines, which are a class of polypeptide antitumor antibiotics isolated from soil bacteria of the genus Streptomyces. It is one of the older anticancer drugs, and has been used for many years.

It is on the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines, the most important medications needed in a basic health system.

Medical use

Actinomycin is a clear, yellow liquid administered intravenously and most commonly used in treatment of a variety of cancers, including:

• Gestational trophoblastic neoplasia
• Wilms' tumor
• Rhabdomyosarcoma
• Ewing's sarcoma
• Malignant hydatidiform mole

Sometimes it will be combined with other drugs in Chemotherapy regimens, like the VAC regimen (with Vincristine and Cyclophosphamide) for treating rhabdomyosarcoma and Ewing's Sarcoma.

It is also used as a radiosensitizer in adjunct to radiotherapies, since it can increase the radiosensitivity of tumor cells by inhibiting repair of sublethal radiation damage and delay the onset of the compensatory hyperplasia that occurs following irradiation.

Side effects

Common adverse drug reaction includes bone marrow suppression, fatigue, hair loss, mouth ulcer, loss of appetite and diarrhea. Actinomycin is a vesicant, if extravasation occurs.

Mechanism

In cell biology, Actinomycin D is shown to have the ability to inhibit transcription. Actinomycin D does this by binding DNA at the transcription initiation complex and preventing elongation of RNA chain by RNA polymerase.

History

Actinomycin D was the first antibiotic shown to have anti-cancer activity. It was first isolated by Selman Waksman and his co-worker H. B. Woodruff in 1940. It was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on December 10, 1964 and launched by Merck Sharp and Dohme under the trade name Cosmegen.

Research use

Because Actinomycin can bind DNA duplexes, it can also interfere with DNA replication, although other chemicals such as hydroxyurea are better suited for use in the laboratory as inhibitors of DNA synthesis.

Actinomycin D and its fluorescent derivative, 7-aminoactinomycin D (7-AAD), are used as stains in microscopy and flow cytometry applications. The affinity of these stains/compounds for GC-rich regions of DNA strands makes them excellent markers for DNA. 7-AAD binds to single stranded DNA; therefore it is a useful tool in determining apoptosis and distinguishing between dead cells and live ones.

External links

• MedlinePlus DrugInfo medmaster-a682224