Misra N, Luthra R, Kumar S
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, CIMAP, Lucknow, India.
Indian J Biochem Biophys. 1996 Aug;33(4):261-73.
Indole alkaloids in Catharanthus roseus have been in focus because of their medicinal value. These alkaloids consist of an indole moiety provided by tryptamine and a terpenoid portion provided by the secologanin. The most important catharanthus alkaloids are vinblastine (VLB), vincristine (VCR) and ajmalicine. VLB and VCR are clinically useful anticancer agents whereas ajmalicine is used for the treatment of circulatory diseases. VCR and VLB are the most expensive because of their low abundance in the plant, and are formed by the coupling of monomeric indole alkaloids vindoline and catharanthine, catalysed by peroxidases. The pathway that lead to monomeric indole alkaloids involves more than 20 enzymes of which 16 enzymes have been isolated and characterized biochemically, and only three at the molecular level. The present state of knowledge on enzymes and genes involved in indole alkaloid biosynthesis and various aspects of their regulation has been discussed.
长春花中的吲哚生物碱因其药用价值而备受关注。这些生物碱由色胺提供的吲哚部分和裂环马钱子苷提供的萜类部分组成。最重要的长春花生物碱是长春碱（VLB）、长春新碱（VCR）和阿吗碱。VLB和VCR是临床上有用的抗癌药物，而阿吗碱用于治疗循环系统疾病。VCR和VLB由于在植物中含量低而最为昂贵，它们是由单体吲哚生物碱文多灵和长春质碱在过氧化物酶催化下偶联形成的。导致单体吲哚生物碱的途径涉及20多种酶，其中16种酶已被分离并进行了生化特性鉴定，只有3种在分子水平上得到鉴定。本文讨论了吲哚生物碱生物合成中涉及的酶和基因的当前知识状态及其调控的各个方面。
