Cancer

# Cancer treatment

Docectaxel is an extract from the bark of the rare Pacific yew tree and belongs to the chemotherapy drug class.

Docetaxel (Source: Wikipedia)
Click here to get at the three dimensional structure of Docetaxel.

### How does Docectaxel work?

An important process in the human body is cell division, where a parent cell divides into two or more daughter cells. Thus, it allows to maintain the original cell's genome, to guarantee continual construction as well as repair of the organism.

Cell division (Source: Wikipedia)

At each cell division, a cell must copy its genome with extraordinary accuracy, therefore specific proteins help to distribute the DNA to the daughter cells. Docetaxel perfectly fits into the so-called binding pocket of these proteins.

The binding pocket of a protein is the center of the protein's activity. If this center is blocked, the protein is not active. Hence, the binding of Docetaxel inhibits the successful distribution of the DNA and consequently, cell division.

Click here, to have a closer look on the binding pocket.

In science, the perfect match of a small drug molecule into the binding pocket of a protein is called key-lock principle with the drug refering to the key and the protein illustrating the lock. Use the mouse to zoom into the structure complex to see more details!

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