知识与财富的链接
分离自太平洋红豆杉的天然抗癌药物紫杉醇(Taxol)已在临床上广泛应用,市场需求日益增强,但工业产量受原料红豆杉树木短缺的制约,供需存在巨大差距。1993年,Stierle等分离到一株与太平洋红豆杉共生的真菌安德烈紫杉菌,证实产生紫杉醇,为利用真菌发酵生产紫杉醇带来可能。通过分析目前工业生产技术存在的问题,总结了产紫杉醇真菌研究的进展及其重要意义。认为利用真菌大规模发酵生产紫杉醇或其中间体,是摆脱制约的一条新思路,具有广阔的应用前景,并且可以带动其他产品的开发。
Produced by and purified from Taxus brevifolia, Taxol (paclitaxel) has become a widely used cancer drug in clinic. Due to the rapid growing market, current industrial production of taxol by semi-synthesis that consumes large amount of Taxus trees cannot meet the requirement of the market. The discovery of taxol-producing fungus Taxomyces andeanae, an endophyte of T. brevifolia, by Stierle et al (1993), paves a new way to the production of the drug, i.e. employing large-scale fungal fermentation to make Taxol at lower cost and yet higher yield. This review discusses the present problems in taxol production in pharmaceutical industry, the finding and research progress on taxol-producing fungi, and the potential application of fungal fermentation to manufacture this important drug.
