Latrunculin
Encyclopedia
The latrunculins are a family of natural product
s and toxin
s produced by certain sponge
s, including genus Latrunculia, whence the name is derived. It binds actin
monomers near the nucleotide binding cleft with 1:1 stoichiometry
and prevents them from polymerizing. Administered in vivo, this effect results in disruption of the actin filaments of the cytoskeleton
.
Natural product
A natural product is a chemical compound or substance produced by a living organism - found in nature that usually has a pharmacological or biological activity for use in pharmaceutical drug discovery and drug design...
s and toxin
Toxin
A toxin is a poisonous substance produced within living cells or organisms; man-made substances created by artificial processes are thus excluded...
s produced by certain sponge
Sea sponge
Sponges are animals of the phylum Porifera . Their bodies consist of jelly-like mesohyl sandwiched between two thin layers of cells. While all animals have unspecialized cells that can transform into specialized cells, sponges are unique in having some specialized cells, but can also have...
s, including genus Latrunculia, whence the name is derived. It binds actin
Actin
Actin is a globular, roughly 42-kDa moonlighting protein found in all eukaryotic cells where it may be present at concentrations of over 100 μM. It is also one of the most highly-conserved proteins, differing by no more than 20% in species as diverse as algae and humans...
monomers near the nucleotide binding cleft with 1:1 stoichiometry
Stoichiometry
Stoichiometry is a branch of chemistry that deals with the relative quantities of reactants and products in chemical reactions. In a balanced chemical reaction, the relations among quantities of reactants and products typically form a ratio of whole numbers...
and prevents them from polymerizing. Administered in vivo, this effect results in disruption of the actin filaments of the cytoskeleton
Cytoskeleton
The cytoskeleton is a cellular "scaffolding" or "skeleton" contained within a cell's cytoplasm and is made out of protein. The cytoskeleton is present in all cells; it was once thought to be unique to eukaryotes, but recent research has identified the prokaryotic cytoskeleton...
.