Chaetocin

Chaetocin, a natural product originally produced by Chaetomium species, is shown to have apoptotic effects on some cancer cells. Mechanistic studies show that chaetocin is taken up in the cells by a process that requires intact/unreduced disulfides for uptake. Once inside, this compound imposes oxidative stress and consequent apoptosis induction. Other studies have shown chaetocin to reduce lysine-specific histone methyltransferase effects of SUV39H, which play a key role in maintaining stable gene expression patterns during embryonic development and cellular differentiation. Additionally, this agent is reported to cause profound chromatin reorganization in fibroblast nuclei by inducing chromatin condensation/clustering. Consequentially, chaetocin impairs Trx (thioredoxin) systems, which are essential for deoxynucleotide synthesis and involved in a broad range of cellular functions. Chaetocin is an inhibitor of G9a, SUV39H1 and TrxR1.