Transfer of taxol from yew tree cuttings into a culture medium over time

摘要

Taxol, an antineoplastic drug, has shown cytotoxic activity against numerous malignant tumors including: breast cancer, colon cancer, ovarian cancer, and skin cancer. Taxol is found in many species of yew including: slow-growing Taxus brevifolia and faster-growing Taxus media X Hicksii. Yew tree cuttings were cultured and the medium was extracted weekly, bi- weekly, and tri-weekly over a period of nine weeks. Taxol and other taxanes were separated through a multi-step procedure using hexane extractions, C-18 Sep Pak cartridges, and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The concentration of the taxanes was then calculated. Taxol and other taxanes can continue to be transferred into a culture medium and extracted over a nine-week period. There is a higher yield when extracted weekly.