“…The antitumor activity of camptothecin is thought to be due to its ability to stabilize the reversible covalent DNAtopoisomerase I complex [Hsiang et al, 1985;Giovanella et al, 1989;Liu et al, 2000;Li et al, 2006;Pommier, 2006;Hartmann and Lipp 2006], preventing the religation step of the breakage/rejoining reaction mediated by the enzyme. The net result is that the drug causes fragmentation of chromosomal DNA, cell death and extensive sister chromatid exchange and chromosomal aberrations [Hsiang et al, 1989;Backer et al, 1990;Holmström and Winters, 1992;Mosesso et al, 2000;Sortibrán et al, 2006;Orta et al, 2008]. Elucidation of the specific target and mechanisms of camptothecin has stimulated intensive efforts to identify novel analogues that overcome the drawbacks of the natural camptothecin molecule, which include low solubility in water; severe and unpredictable toxicity, including hemorrhagic cystitis; reversibility of the drug-target interaction; lactone instability; and drug resistance [Porter and Champoux, 1989;De Cesare et al, 2001;Zunino and Pratesi, 2004].…”