The American Chemical Society (ACS) has commemorated the discovery of the anticancer pharmaceuticals Taxol and camptothecin by Mansukh Wani, Ph.D., and the late Monroe Wall, Ph.D., with a National Historic Chemical Landmark. It was affixed to the front of Research Triangle Institute's (RTI's) Medicinal Chemistry Building in Research Triangle Park, N.C., at a commemoration event April 23.
Drs. Wall and Wani isolated Taxol from the Pacific yew tree in the late 1960s and reported its structure in 1971. Susan Band Horwitz, Ph.D., who spoke at the commemoration event, identified the compound's unique mode of action to be the stabilization of microtubule assembly, which inhibits cell division. Today, Taxol is used for the treatment of refractory ovarian cancer, metastatic breast and lung cancers, and Kaposi's sarcoma. In 1966, prior to the discovery of Taxol, Drs. Wall and Wani reported the discovery of camptothecin. Other researchers later found the unique mode of action for the compound to be the inhibition of DNA topoisomerase I, which prevents DNA replication and kills cancer cells. Currently, first-generation analogs of the compound are used for the treatment of ovarian and colon cancers.
In addition to a presentation by Dr. Horwitz, the commemoration event included a scientific presentation by Paul A. Bunn, Jr., M.D. Dr. Bunn is the Grohne/Stapp Endowed Professor of Oncology and Professor of Medicine in the School of Medicine at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver. He has also served as director of the University of Colorado's Comprehensive Cancer Center since its inception in 1987 and is principal investigator of its Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) in lung cancer.
Dr. Horwitz, best known for her pioneering work in determining the anticancer mechanism of action of Taxol, is professor and co-chair of the Department of Molecular Pharmacology, Professor of Cell Biology, and the Rose C. Falkenstein Professor of Cancer Research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University in Bronx, N.Y. She is also the current president of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Drs. Wall and Wani also are considered pioneers in pharmacognosy, the study of medicinal compounds from nature. They have advanced the field's methods and advocated the pursuit of pharmaceuticals from natural sources, only a fraction of which have been assessed. Today, researchers in RTI's Natural Products Laboratory (see http://www.rti.org/naturalproducts) continue the search for disease-fighting compounds from nature and are developing standards for herbal drugs.
National Historic Chemical Landmarks commemorate discoveries, products, achievements, and places that have expanded the frontiers of knowledge and advanced medicine and industry. The program began in 1992, and as of the end of 2002, there were 45 landmarks worldwide. Previous landmarks have included the Priestley House in Pennsylvania for the discovery of oxygen, Oberlin College in Ohio for the development of the Hall aluminum process, and the Brandywine Mill in Delaware, which was the founding building of DuPont (see http://center.acs.org/landmarks/index.html).
This ACS landmark is the second in North Carolina. The other, near Eden, N.C., commemorates the 1892 discovery of the first manufacturing process to make calcium carbide and acetylene. The discovery led to development of oxyacetylene welding and enabled further advances such as synthetic processes to make rubber.
Research Triangle Institute, also known as RTI International, is an independent research organization with a distinguished history in scientific research and technology development. Formed in 1958 to be the first organization in North Carolina's Research Triangle Park, RTI is dedicated to improving the human condition. Today, our more than 2,100 employees provide research and development to national and international clients in government and industry.
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