Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 9, Issue 17, 2009

Natural products have been used for thousands of years in human history for prevention and treatment of diseases, or for maintaining general wellness. Bioactive natural products are also the important sources of many current therapeutic agents, either in original forms or derivatives made from the natural lead compounds. During the past decades, new tools and strategies such as the combinatorial chemistry, high-th Read More

Aromatic polyketides represent important members of the family of polyketides, which have displayed a wide assortment of bioactive properties, such as antibacterial, antitumor, and antiviral activities. Bacterial aromatic polyketides are mainly synthesized by type II polyketide synthases (PKSs). Whereas malonyl-CoA is exclusively used as the extender unit, starter units can vary in different aromatic polyketide biosynthetic Read More

The impact of natural products on human health has been enormous, and the study of natural products continues to influence research in the fields of chemistry, biology, and ecology. Historically, the majority of our medicines originate from natural products and their synthetic derivatives, many of which have taught us valuable lessons about biology. While advances in synthetic and combinatorial chemistry have given rise to nota Read More

Over 200 derivatives have been obtained through chemo-enzymatic transformation of the taxanes derived from cell cultures of Taxus chinensis. The reversal activity towards MDR tumor cells and cyto-toxicity of most these compounds were evaluated, and several derivatives exhibited powerful MDR reversal activity. The substrate-specificities of the two most important biotransformation reactions-C-7β and 9α hydroxyla Read More

Nordihydroguaiaretic acid is a natural occurring lignan mainly isolated and commercially produced from desert plant, creosote bush (Larrea divaricata Cav. Or Corillea tridentate), which can be widely found in the border zone of southern of USA and northern of Mexico. During past 100 years, extensive research has demonstrated that nordihydroguaiaretic acid and its synthetic analogues are potentially useful in treating Read More

Lignans are widely distributed in nature. The earliest recorded medicinal use of lignans dated back to over 1000 years ago. Lignan-rich plant products were also active ingredients in Chinese and Japanese folk medicines for the treatment of various diseases. The dried root and stem of this plant are listed in the Chinese pharmacopoeia for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, gastric, duodenal ulcers and many other diseas Read More