[Molecular mechanisms of antitumor activity of taxanes. I. Interaction of docetaxel with microtubules]

Abstract

Docetaxel (Taxotere), a new semisynthetic taxoid, is a mitotic inhibitor, widely used in monotherapy or in combination with other anticancer drugs against many types of cancer. The structure and dynamics of microtubules as the main target for docetaxel activity inside the cell and the taxane-binding site on β-tubulin are discussed. Microtubules are highly dynamic assemblies of α- and β-tubulin. They readily polymerize and depolymerize in cells and these dynamic behaviours are crucial to cell mitosis. Microtubule instability is attributed to their capability to hydrolyze GTP to GDP, which causes their depolymerization. Addition of new α-, β-tubulin heterodimer bound to GTP leads to tubulin polymerization, which increases the length of the microtubule. Docetaxel alters the polymerization dynamics of microtubules, which causes blockage of cell mitosis, and consequently induces apoptotic and non-apoptotic cell death. Docetaxel specifically acts on the S, M and G2 phases of the cell cycle. This paper reviews the current state of knowledge related to the molecular mechanisms of docetaxel action on the cell cycle and microtubule dynamics. In addition, a brief survey of the present state of research on the new generation (2nd and 3rd) of taxanes is presented.