NCIt definition : The chloride salt of a white crystalline bitter alkaloid isolated from the root of
the plant Psychotria Ipecacuanha (ipecac root) and other plants with antiemetic and
anthelminthic properties. Emetine inhibits protein synthesis in eukaryotic (but not
prokaryotic) cells by irreversibly blocking ribosome movement along the mRNA strand
and inhibits DNA replication in the early S phase of the cell cycle. (NCI04);