Interaction of vinblastine analogues with tubulin

Studies of the interaction between vinblastine-like alkaloids and their receptor, i.e. tubulin, are reported. They shed some light on the structure-activity relationships in this medicinally important series: the configurations at C14' and C16' as well as the presence of the methoxycarbonyl group on C16' seem to play an essential role in the determination of biological activity.