Characterization and heterologous reconstitution of Taxus biosynthetic enzymes leading to baccatin III. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38271490/)

These scientists wanted to understand how a medicine called paclitaxel is made in plants. Paclitaxel is a very important medicine that can help fight cancer. They knew that paclitaxel is made from a compound called baccatin III, but they didn't know exactly how it is made.

So, these scientists studied a plant called Taxus mairei, which is known to produce paclitaxel. They found a special enzyme in this plant called taxane oxetanase 1 (TOT1). This enzyme helps in making a part of paclitaxel called paclitaxel oxetane. This was exciting because nobody knew about this enzyme before.

To find out more, the scientists used a clever method. They created a plan to look for other enzymes that are involved in making paclitaxel. They found another enzyme called T9alphaH1 that helps in making a different part of paclitaxel.

Finally, the scientists wanted to see if they could make baccatin III in a different plant. So, they took the genes for making paclitaxel from Taxus mairei and put them into tobacco plants. Amazingly, the tobacco plants started making baccatin III, just like the Taxus mairei plant!

This study helped us understand more about how paclitaxel is made in plants. It could also help scientists find new ways to make this important medicine in the future.

Jiang B., Gao L., Wang H., Sun Y., Zhang X., Ke H., Liu S., Ma P., Liao Q., Wang Y., Wang H., Liu Y., Du R., Rogge T., Li W., Shang Y., Houk KN., Xiong X., Xie D., Huang S., Lei X., Yan J. Characterization and heterologous reconstitution of Taxus biosynthetic enzymes leading to baccatin III. Science. 2024 Feb 9;383(6683):622-629. doi: 10.1126/science.adj3484. Epub 2024 Jan 25.