Curvularin is a 12-membered macrocyclic lactone incorporating a resorcinyl moiety, produced by a number of fungal species including Curvularia, Penicillium and Alternaria. Curvularin exhibits a distinctly different biological profile to the structurally similar resorcylic acid lactones such as the zearalenones, radicicol and LL Z1640-2. Curvularin inhibits cell division by disrupting mitotic spindle formation and is known to be phytotoxic.
Curvularin is soluble in ethanol, methanol, DMF and DMSO.
Curvularin is soluble in ethanol, methanol, DMF and DMSO.
| Mechanism of Action | Curvularin inhibits cell division by disrupting mitotic spindle formation and is known to be phytotoxic. More recent investigations have shown that curvularin is a highly selective transcription-based inhibitor of iNOS-dependent NO production, acting on the Janus tyrosine kinase-STAT pathway. |
| References | Studies in relation to biosynthesis. Part XX. The structure and biosynthesis of curvularin. Birch J. A. et al. J. Chem. Soc. 1959, 3146. Sporogen, S14-95 and S-curvularin, three inhibitors of human inducible nitric-oxide synthase expression isolated from fungi. Yao Y. et al. Mol. Pharmacol. 2003, 63, 383. |
