Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Encyclopedia of Cancer pp 1–4Cite as

Celastrol

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:

  • 51 Accesses

Synonyms

Quinone methide friedelane tripterene (2R,4aS,6aS,12bR,14aS,14bR)-10-hydroxy-2,4a,6a,9,12b,14a-hexamethyl-11-oxo-1,2,3,4,4a,5,6,6a,11,12b,13,14,14a,14b-tetradecahydropicene-2-carboxylic acid; Tripterine

Definition

Celastrol is a natural quinone methide friedelane tripterene, widely found in the plant genera Celastrus, Maytenus, and Tripterygium, all of which are present in China. For example, celastrol is one of the active components extracted from Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F, an ivy-like vine also known as “Thunder of God Vine,” which belongs to the family of Celastraceae and has been used as a natural medicine in China for hundreds of years (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1
figure 1

The chemical structure and nucleophilic susceptibility of celastrol. (a) The chemical structure of celastrol is shown. (b) Nucleophilic susceptibility of celastrol analyzed using CAChe software. Higher susceptibility was shown at the C2 and C6 positions of celastrol

Full size image

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

References

  • Hieronymus H, Lamb J, Ross KN et al (2006) Gene expression signature-based chemical genomic prediction identifies a novel class of HSP90 pathway modulators. Cancer Cell 10:321–330

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sassa H, Takaishi Y, Terada H (1990) The triterpene celastrol as a very potent inhibitor of lipid peroxidation in mitochondria. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 172:890–897

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sethi G, Ahn KS, Pandey MK et al (2006) Celastrol, a novel triterpene, potentiates TNF-induced apoptosis and suppresses invasion of tumor cells by inhibiting NF-?B-regulated gene products and TAK1-mediated NF-?B activation. Blood 109:2727–2735

    Google Scholar 

  • Setty AR, Sigal LH (2005) Herbal medications commonly used in the practice of rheumatology: mechanisms of action, efficacy, and side effects. Semin Arthritis Rheum 34:773–784

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yang HJ, Chen D, Cui QZC et al (2006) Celastrol, a triterpene extracted from the Chinese “Thunder of God Vine”, is a potent proteasome inhibitor and suppresses human prostate cancer growth in nude mice. Cancer Res 66:4758–4765

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Prevention Program, Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute and Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA

    Qing Ping Dou

  2. Research and Development Center, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Science, Wuhan, Hubei, People’s Republic of China

    Xiao Yuan

Authors
  1. Qing Ping Dou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Xiao Yuan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Qing Ping Dou .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Abt. Tumorgenetik, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Heidelberg, Germany

    Manfred Schwab

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this entry

Cite this entry

Dou, Q.P., Yuan, X. (2015). Celastrol. In: Schwab, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Cancer. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_985-3

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_985-3

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27841-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation