Once you have downloaded the Plug-in you can view the 3D version of this page. Alternatively download the 3D structure pdb file and view with your modelling software, for example RASMol. See the Molecule of the Month Homepage for instructions. Biological properties One biological activity of Staurosporine is the inhibition of kinase proteins. A kinase is an enzyme that is critically involved in cell signalling, the process which determines how a biological cell reacts to it's environment within the body.
Cancer is typified by unregulated cell signalling leading to explosive cell growth.
Inhibition of these cell processes could have anti-cancer effects. Staurosporine exerts it's biological effect by interacting, or binding, with a biological target such as a kinase. The elucidation of the structure of Staurosporine bound to a protein kinase is shown below 9 . This image was obtained by crystallisation of the kinase with Staurosporine followed by x-ray diffraction . Staurosporine is shown as green, blue and red circles and the protein kinase is shown in yellow and purple.