Maitansine Explained

Maitansine (INN), or maytansine (USAN), is a cytotoxic agent. It inhibits the assembly of microtubules by binding to tubulin at the rhizoxin binding site.^[1]

It is a macrolide of the ansamycin type and can be isolated from plants of the genus Maytenus.

Maytansinoids

Derivatives of maitansine are known as maytansinoids.^{[2] [3]} Some are being investigated as the cytotoxic component of antibody-drug conjugates for cancer treatment,^[4] and the antibody-drug conjugate trastuzumab emtansine is an approved drug for the treatment of certain kinds of breast cancer in the EU and in the US.^{[5] [6]}

Examples of maytansinoids are:

• Ansamitocin
• Mertansine / emtansine (DM1)
• Ravtansine / soravtansine (DM4)

See also

• ImmunoGen, developer of maytansinoid based drugs

Notes and References

1. http://www.cancer.gov/Templates/drugdictionary.aspx?CdrID=39492 National Cancer Institute: Definition of Maytansine
2. Yu . T.-W. . Bai . L . Clade . D . Hoffmann . D . Toelzer . S . Trinh . KQ . Xu . J . Moss . SJ . Leistner . E . The biosynthetic gene cluster of the maytansinoid antitumor agent ansamitocin from Actinosynnemapretiosum . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . 99 . 12 . 7968–7973 . 2002 . 12060743 . 123004 . 10.1073/pnas.092697199 . 2002PNAS...99.7968Y . free .
3. Lopus. M. Oroudjev. E. Wilson. L. Wilhelm. S. Widdison. W. Chari. R. Jordan. MA. Maytansine and cellular metabolites of antibody-maytansinoid conjugates strongly suppress microtubule dynamics by binding to microtubules. Mol Cancer Ther. 2010. 9. 10. 2689–99. 10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-10-0644. 20937594. 2954514.
4. Immunoconjugates containing novel maytansinoids: promising anticancer drugs. . 1727373 . 52 . January 1992 . Cancer Res. . 127–31 . Chari . RV . Martell . BA . Gross . JL . 1 . etal .
5. Web site: Kadcyla EPAR . European Medicines Agency (EMA) . 17 September 2018 .
6. Web site: Drug Approval Package: ado-trastuzumab emtansine . U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) . 22 February 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191204061612/https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/nda/2013/125427Orig1s000TOC.cfm . 4 December 2019 . live . 3 December 2019.