Plant Metabolites Screening Identifies 7-epi-10-Deacetyltaxol Inhibiting Cell Division by Interfering With the Cell Cycle and Microtubule Organization.

Plants produce a considerable number of metabolites, and many of them appear to interfere with certain cellular processes such as cell division. For example, taxanes produced by Taxus are known as anti-cancer drugs that stabilize microtubules and prevent the cell from dividing normally. Disorder of cell division also leads to abnormal growth and development in plants. It is worthy of consideration whether these metabolites have negative effects on plants per se. In this study, we developed an efficient screening system for identifying plant metabolites affecting rapeseed seedling root growth. One compound, 7-epi-10-deacetyltaxol, inhibited tissue elongation by adversely altering cell division and elongation. And it was applied to plant cell lines, rat vascular smooth muscle cells, and human tumor organoids, resulting in similar cell division suppression. Transcriptome and proteomics analysis indicated the suppression in plant growth was through brassinosteroid-regulated expression of cell cycle proteins, while cytological observation reveals microtubule morphology anomalies. Single-nucleus transcriptome sequencing revealed inhibitory effects of ovarian cancer organoids. Together, our findings identified a universal cell division inhibitor and characterized its conserved function with respective regulatory mechanisms, providing new insights into what role "harmful" plant metabolites are playing in plants.