Signal transduction cell differentiation

Balanol, a metabolite produced by the fungus Verticil-Hum balanoides, was isolated and characterized in 1993, and it shows remarkable inhibitory properties toward the protein kinase C (PKC—a family of phospholipid-depen-dent serine/threonine protein kinases) that plays an important role in cell growth, signal transduction, and differentiation. The synthesis of the key intermediate to the (—)-balanol hexahydroazepane core 126, which includes an enantioselective hydrogenation via DKR was reported by Genet et The a-amido p-keto ester... 

The spatial and steric requirements for high affinity binding to protein kinase C (PKC), a macromolecule that has not yet been crystallized, were determined. Protein kinase C plays a critical role in cellular signal transduction and is in part responsible for cell differentiation. PKC was identified as the macromolecular target for the potent tumor-promoting phorbol esters (25). The natural agonists for PKC are diacylglycerols (DAG) (26). The arrows denote possible sites of interaction. 

The Ras signal transduction cascade is of extreme physiological importance. It is central to the regulation of cell growth and differentiation, and false regulation of this signal pathway can be one of the critical steps leading to cell transformation.151 A... 

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