Cytotoxic Natural Products and their Pharmacological Mode of Action: A Hypothesis on their Complexity and Spectrum of Activity

Natural products are important in pharmaceutical research, and many medicines are based on natural products. It is estimated that about 40% of all medicines and about 60% of anti-cancer agents are based on natural products. Plants, marine organisms, amphibians and soil micro-organisms produce cytotoxic compounds to protect themselves or their micro-environment against other organisms and species. It may be beneficial if such cytotoxic natural products affect target enzymes across a broad spectrum of organisms and species.