Alkylating agent

An alkylating agent is a reactive chemical that transfers an alkyl group to another molecule. By modifying DNA and other cellular molecules, it can disrupt cell function.

Alkylation: A chemical reaction in which an alkyl group is added to a molecule. This reaction is the defining chemical action of alkylating agents.
Chemotherapy: The treatment of disease, especially cancer, with chemical agents that damage or inhibit cells. Alkylating drugs are a major class of cancer chemotherapy.
Antimetabolite: A molecule that disrupts metabolism by mimicking or blocking a natural metabolite. Antimetabolites interfere with nucleotide pathways rather than directly transferring alkyl groups to DNA.
Mutagenesis: The process by which genetic changes arise in DNA. Misreading or misrepair of alkylated bases can create mutations.
Sulfur mustard: A blistering chemical warfare agent that damages skin, eyes, lungs, and blood-forming tissues. Its effects on blood cells helped motivate investigation of related compounds against cancer.
DNA alkylation: The addition of alkyl groups to DNA bases or its backbone. DNA alkylation explains how these agents can disrupt genetic information.
Cyclophosphamide: A chemotherapy drug that is converted in the body into DNA-cross-linking metabolites. Its activation in the body illustrates how a prodrug can deliver alkylating activity.
Topoisomerase inhibitor: A drug that disrupts enzymes controlling DNA winding and strand passage. These drugs damage DNA through enzyme trapping, not alkyl-group transfer.
Carcinogenesis: The process by which normal cells acquire changes that lead to cancer. Some alkylating exposures can initiate cancer by producing heritable DNA mutations.
Louis Goodman: An American pharmacologist who helped establish nitrogen mustard as an experimental cancer treatment. His wartime research group tested mustard compounds against lymphoma in the 1940s.

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