Acylfulvene is a class of cytotoxic semi-synthetic derivatives of illudin, a natural product that can be extracted from the jack o'lantern mushroom (Omphalotus olearius).Anchel, M.; Hervey, A.; Robbins, W. J. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 1950, 36, 300 One important acylfulvene, 6-hydroxymethylacylfulvene (irofulven), has been evaluated for the treatment of a wide assortment of cancers and tumors. It is thought that acylfulvene compounds kill cancer cells by DNA alkylation (see DNA methylation).Woynarowski, Jan M.; Napier, Cheryl; Koester, Steven K.; Chen, Shih-Fong; Troyer, Dean; Chapman, William; Macdonald, John R. Biochemical Pharmacology (1997), 54 (11), 1181-1193 CODEN: BCPCA6; . (Elsevier Science Inc.)
References