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From BIOL 2P96 Jan 2013 Group 08

Secondary Metabolites of Fungi

Contents 1 Definitions 2 Introduction 3 Species types involved 3.1 Pigments 3.2 Volatiles (odour) 3.3 Antibiotics 3.3.1 Penicillin 3.3.2 Griseofulvin 3.4 Immune-suppressants 3.5 Toxins 3.6 Steroids 4 Processes involved 5 History 6 References

Definitions

Introduction

Species types involved

Pigments

Volatiles (odour)

Antibiotics

Penicillin

Griseofulvin

Griseofulvin is an antifungal drug which is used both in animals and humans to treat fungal infections of the skin and nails and taken by orally. The most common skin infection is the ringworm. It is isolated from a Penicillium griseofulvum in 1939.

The drug disrupts the mitotic spindle through interacting with polymerized microtubules where inhibiting the mitosis. The cells get resistant to fungal infections when it binds to keratin in keratin precursor cells. The drug reaches its site of action only when the hair or skin is replaced by the keratin griseofulvin complex. Then the drug will bind to fungal microtubules by entering the dermatophyte through energy dependent transport process. Therefore, the process of mitosis changes and the original information for deposition of fungal cell walls.

Griseofulvin can also be a potential treatment for cancer. They use an unusual mechanism to confirm the correct genetic material is present within each of the resulting tumor cells when cancer cells divide, undergo mitosis. The most common side effects are nausea, diarrhea, headache, skin eruptions and photosensitivity. Hepatotoxicity and neurological side effects hardly occur.

Immune-suppressants

Toxins

Steroids

Processes involved

History

References