Colchicine
Colchicine
Botanical Name:Iphigenia indica Kunth
Appearance:Light yellowish crystalline powder.
CAS Registry Number: 64-86-8
Molecular Formula: C22H25NO6
Molecular Weight: 399.443
Solubility: Solving in methanol, benzene and water; fairly solving in ethanol; poorly solving in hexane.
Brief Introduction:
Colchicine is an alkaloid isolated from Autumn crocus or Iphigenia indica Kunth.It blocks microtuble assembly by binding to the tubulin heterodimer(but not to tubulin).As a result of interfering with microtubule reassembly will block mitosis at metaphase.
As an antimitotic agent,colchicine can be used to induce polyploidy in plant breeding and for studying cell division.
colchicine has proven to have a range of effectiveness as a chemotherapy agent, used in veterinary medicine to treat cancers. It is also used as an antimitotic agent in cancer research involving cell cultures.