Thapsigargin, origin, chemistry, structure-activity relationships and prodrug development.

Thapsigargin was originally isolated from the roots of the Mediterranean umbelliferous plant Thapsia garganica in order to characterize the skin irritant principle. The biological activity was related to the subnanomolar affinity for the sarco-endoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase. Prolonged inhibition of the pump afforded collapse of the calcium homeostasis and eventually apoptosis. Structure-activity relationships enabled design of an equipotent analogue containing a linker. Conjugation of a peptide, which only is a substrate for prostate specific antigen enabled design of a prodrug (G115) targeted against prostate cancer. Conjugation to a peptide, which only is a substrate for prostate specific membrane antigen enabled development of a prodrug (G202), which is targeted towards a number of cancer diseases including hepatocellular carcinoma. G202 has under the name of mipsagargin in clinical trials 2 shown promising properties against hepatocellular carcinoma.