Wani

Camptothecin was discovered as an active anticancer drug isolated from the bark of Camptotheca acuminata. The anticancer activity of camptothecin was discovered in the 1960s by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) as part of a systematic effort to screen for novel anticancer agents derived from natural products. Monroe Wall and Mansuhk Wani identified the chemical structure of camptothecin. They also identified the chemical structure of taxol, again under the auspices of the NCI. Susan Hoiwitz was contracted by the NCI to elucidate the anticancer mechanisms of camptothecin. She found in the early 1970s that camptothecin induced DNA breaks and attested DNA and RNA synthesis. However, it is approximately 12 years later, only after DNA topo-isomerase I (Topi) had been identified in human cells, that Leroy Liu and his coworkers found that Topi was the cellular target of camptothecin [reviewed in [1]. 

Wani MC, Taylor HL, Wall ME, Coggon P, McPhail AT. Plant antitumor agents. VI. The isolation and structure of taxol, a novel antileukemic and antitumor agent from Taxus brevifolia. J Am Chem Soc 1971 93 2325-7. 

Jones DL (1998) Organic acids in the rhizosphere - a critical review. Plant Soil 205 25-44 Khan MS, Zaidi A, Wani PA (2007) Role of phosphate-solubilizing microorganisms in sustainable agriculture - a review. Agron Sustain Dev 27 29 13... 

Varma, S Wani, BN Gupta, NM. Redox behavior and catalytic activity of La-Fe-V-0 mixed oxides. Appl. Catal, A General, 2003, Volmne 241, Issues 1-2, 341-348. 

Pisha E, Chai H, Lee I-S, Chagwedera TE, Farnsworth NR, Cordell GA, Beecher CWW, Fong HHS, Kinghom AD, Brown DM, Wani MC, Wall ME, Hieken TJ, Das Gupta TK, Pezzuto JM. (1995) Discovery of betuhnic acid as a selective inhibitor of human melanoma that functions by induction of apoptosis. Nat Med 1 1046-1051. 

Mansukhlal Wani was born on February 20, 1925, in Nandurbar, Maharastra, India. He attended grade and high school in his hometown and then earned his bachelor s degree in chemistry (1947) and his master s degree in organic chemistry (1950) from the University of Bombay. He emigrated to the United States in 1958 and enrolled at Indiana University, from which he received his Ph.D. in chemistry in 1962. He accepted a position with RTI in 1962 and has remained with the organization ever since in the position of Principal Scientist. 

Wall and Wani collaborated in their research on Taxux brevifolia and Camptotheca acuminata for 38 years. They have received some of the most prestigious awards given in their field of science, most notably the 2000 Charles F. Kettering Prize for outstanding research on the diagnosis or treatment of cancer. 

Kinghorn AD, Farnsworth NR, Soejarto DD, Cordell GA, Swanson SM, Pezzuto JM, Wani MC, Wall ME, Oberlies NR, Kroll DJ, Kramer RA, Rose WC, Vite GD, Fairchild CR, Peterson RW, Wild R, Novel strategies for the discovery of plant-derived anticancer agents, Pharm h/4l(Suppl.) 53—67, 2003. 

Wani MC, Taylor HL, Wall ME, Coggon P, McPhail AT, Plant antitumor agents. 

Cragg CM, Newman DJ, A tale of two tumor targets Topoisomerase I and tubulin. The Wall and Wani contribution to cancer chemotherapy, J Nat Prod 67 232-244, 2004. 

Wall ME, Wani MC, Brown DM, et al., Effects of tannins on screening of plant extracts for en2yme inhibitory activity and techniques for their removal. Phytomedicine 5-.2% —2%5, 1996. 

Kudo M, Wang Y, Wani MA, Xu M, Ayub A, Ashraf M. Implantation of bone marrow stem cells reduces the infarction and fibrosis in ischemic mouse heart. J Mol Cell Cardiol 2003 35 1113-1119. 

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