Zip-like steroid with therapeutic potential

摘要

A naturally occurring steroid that acts as a supramolecular zipper could have potential as a new anticancer drug.Orde Munro and co-workers at the University of KwaZulu-Natal,South Africa,have isolated a previously unknown steroid from a Southern African grassland lily,Ornithogalum tenuifolium.The X-ray structure of the compound revealed the steroid monomers stackingto form one-dimensional chains that interlock with neighbouring polymers.The overall structure of the natural product almost perfectly mimics a man-made zip.