Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology - Volume 8, Issue 4, 2007

Since the ancient times plants have been rich sources of medicines. This is still true even in the modernized Societies. New natural compounds potentially leading to innovative drugs are being discovered from plants. We are often astonished by how much man enjoys the benefits of the huge chemical diversity of plants not only for providing medicines but also pesticides, flavors, dyes and other industrial materials. More r Read More

Camptothecin (CPT) and its derivatives have been received considerable attention recently. Two semi-synthetic derivatives, topotecan and irinotecan, are currently prescribed as anticancer drugs. Several more are now in clinical trial. CPT is produced in many plants belonging to unrelated orders of angiosperms. At present, CPT supplied for pharmaceutical use is extracted from the plants, Camptotheca acuminat Read More

Many plants belonging to the Solanaceae family have been used as a source of pharmaceuticals for centuries because of their active principles, tropane and nicotine alkaloids. Tropane alkaloids, atropine, hyoscyamine and scopolamine, are among the oldest drugs in medicine. On the other hand nicotine, the addictive agent in tobacco, has only recently gained attention as a backbone for novel potential alkaloids to be used f Read More

Higher plants produce diverse classes of metabolites. Metabolic engineering offers tremendous potential to improve the production and quality of these chemicals. This report summarizes the possibility of using metabolic engineering in benzylisoquinoline alkaloid biosynthesis. Benzylisoquinoline alkaloids, such as morphine, sanguinarine, and berberine, are synthesized from tyrosine via reticuline in Magnoliacea Read More

Paclitaxel is a potent chemotherapeutic agent approved in the treatment of a variety of cancers, and under evaluation for the treatment of Alzheimer’s and heart disease. Originally isolated from Taxus brevifolia, this highly substituted ring diterpenoid belongs to a family of plant secondary metabolites known as taxoids. Paclitaxel is currently supplied through both a semi-synthetic process and plant cell culture. Ta Read More

Cannabinoids, consiting of alkylresorcinol and monoterpene groups, are the unique secondary metabolites that are found only in Cannabis sativa. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD) and cannabichromene (CBC) are well known cannabinoids and their pharmacological properties have been extensively studied. Recently, biosynthetic pathways of these cannabinoids have been successfully established. Several biosy Read More

Among a large number of plant secondary metabolites, alkaloids comprise one of the most important groups due to their strong and divergent biological activities, and some are applied for clinical use. Alkaloids are often highly accumulated in particular organs of medicinal plants, which are called the ‘medicinal part’, whereas it is known that some alkaloids are translocated from source organs to such sink organs. The move Read More