asparaginase Erwinia chrysanthemi

Pronunciation

Definition 1

A drug used with other anticancer drugs to treat acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). It is an enzyme that comes from the Erwinia chrysanthemi bacterium. It is used in patients who cannot take a similar drug that comes from the E. coli bacterium. It is also being studied in the treatment of other types of cancer. It breaks down the amino acid asparagine and may block the growth of cancer cells that need asparagine to grow. It may also kill cancer cells. Also called Erwinaze. (NCI Dictionary)

Definition 2

An enzyme isolated from the bacterium Erwinia chrysanthemi (E. carotovora). Asparagine is critical to protein synthesis in leukemic cells, which cannot synthesize this amino acid due to the absence of the enzyme asparagine synthase. Asparaginase hydrolyzes L-asparagine to L-aspartic acid and ammonia, thereby depleting leukemic cells of asparagine and blocking protein synthesis and tumor cell proliferation, especially in the G1 phase of the cell cycle. This agent also induces apoptosis in tumor cells. The Erwinia-derived product is often used for those patients who have experienced a hypersensitivity reaction to the E. Coli formulation. (NCI Thesaurus)

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