Fumagillin is an antibiotic derived from the fungus A. fumigatus. It binds and inhibits methionine aminopeptidase-2 with an IC50 value of 10 nM.1,2 Fumagillin inhibits angiogenesis by impairing the growth of endothelial cells and altering gene expression.1,3,4 It also impairs microsporidial replication and can be used to treat both conjunctival and intestinal microsporidial infections in immunocompromised patients.5,6 Finally, fumagillin reduces diet-induced adipose tissue formation in mice, independent of its effects on angiogenesis.7
1
Griffith, E.C., Su, Z., Niwayama, S., et al. Molecular recognition of angiogenesis inhibitors fumagillin and ovalicin by methionine aminopeptidase 2. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 95 15183-15188 (1998).
2
Lowther, W.T., McMillen, D.A., Orville, A.M., et al. The anti-angiogenic agent fumagillin covalently modifies a conserved active-site histidine in the Escherichia coli methionine aminopeptidase. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 95 12153-12157 (1998).
3
Mazzanti, C.M., Tandle, A., Lorang, D., et al. Early genetic mechanisms underlying the inhibitory effects of endostatin and fumagillin on human endothelial cells. Genome Res 14 1585-1593 (2004).
4
Sheen, I., Jeng, K., Jeng, W., et al. Fumagillin treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma in rats: An in vivo study of antiangiogenesis. World J Gastroenterol 11(6) 771-777 (2005).
5
Didier, E.S., Rogers, L.B., Brush, A.D., et al. Diagnosis of disseminated microsporidian Encephalitozoon hellem infection by PCR-southern analysis and successful treatment with albendazole and fumagillin. J Clin Microbiol 34(4) 947-952 (1996).
6
Molina, J., Tourneur, M., Sarfati, C., et al. Fumagillin treatment of intestinal microsporidiosis. N Engl J Med 346(25) 1963-1969 (2002).
7
Lijnen, H.R., Frederix, L., and Van Hoef, B. Fumagillin reduces adipose tissue formation in murine models of nutritionally induced obesity. Obesity 18 2241-2246 (2010).