Cellular targets of natural products

Natural products have evolved, at least in part, to bind to biological macromolecules, particularly proteins. As a result, natural products are able to interact with many specific targets within the cell. Indeed for many years this has been central in the drug development process. Today, however, natural products are finding increasing use as probes to interrogate biological systems as part of chemical genomics and related research. In order to demonstrate the utility of natural products in these efforts, the biological activities of many of the major classes of natural products is discussed, according to the cellular organelle and localisation of their specific molecular targets. Emphasis is given to newly discovered compounds and activities that either provide interesting insights into a specific biological function, or that form the basis for potentially new therapeutic approaches.     

Sweet and umami taste: natural products, their chemosensory targets, and beyond

Much of our appreciation of food is due to the excitement of the perception of "sweet" and "umami" taste. With a special focus on natural products, this Review gives a summary of compounds that elicit and modulate "sweet" or "umami" taste responses. It will be discussed how the interaction of these molecules with the oral sweet and umami taste receptors stimulates receptor cells to secrete neurotransmitters to induce neural activity that is conveyed to the cerebral cortex to represent sweet and umami taste, respectively. Recent data also show that a sweet taste is metabolically relevant for fuel homeostasis and linked to appetitive ingestive behavior.     

Chemical and biological integrity in natural products screening

Due to pressure from combinatorial chemistry and the streamlining of the drug discovery process through automated high-throughput screening technologies, pharmaceutically based natural products programs are under increasing scrutiny. However by taking advantages of technologies originally developed for high-throughput screening and combinatorial chemistry and applying them to processes considered as bottlenecks in classical natural products chemistry (purification, structure elucidation, sample availability) it is our opinion that natural products can still contribute to the effective discovery of novel bioactive and pharmaceutically relevant metabolites. We describe here several such strategies that if universally implemented, will demonstrate i) whether chemical diversity is truly being accessed, ii) that novel metabolites can be formatted in a manner appropriate for modern screening paradigms, and iii) that natural products can be rapidly identified not only for novelty and pharmaceutical relevance but to assess their true biological origin.     

Electrophilic aromatic trichloromethylation: intermediates and products

Based on analysis of experimental data for reactions in solutions and in the gas phase and on the results of quantum-chemical calculations, it was shown that rearomatization stage of cationic -complexes formed in the electrophilic trichloromethylation is not deprotonation but dehydrochlorination to form aryldichlorocarbenium ions that are the real products of the reaction under consideration. The geometries and electronic structures of phenyldichlorocarbenium and mesityldichlorocarbenium ions were studied and differences in their reactivities were discussed.     

Macrocylic bisbibenzyl natural products and their chemical synthesis

Covering: 1995 to June 2011. The macrocyclic bisbibenzyl family of natural products are commonly found in liverworts and other bryophytes, though the recent isolation of riccardin C from a primrose extract has demonstrated their existence in higher flowering plants. Each has a core comprising four aromatic rings and two ethano bridges, being derived in Nature from two molecules of lunularin. Sub-classes are distinguished by the connectivity between these lunularin units, while individual natural products are distinguished by the hydroxy- and/or alkoxy-substituents decorating the core structures. Further diversification results from halogenation and oxidation, which may lead to dimerization or the creation of additional rings. The review provides a timely update to a previous Natural Product Reports article by Keseru and Nógrádi (Nat. Prod. Rep. 1995, 12, 69-75) and largely focuses on new additions to the family and the strategies used to effect their chemical synthesis.     

钒化合物的靶点蛋白及其生物效应

作为一种生物相关的金属元素,基于钒的金属化合物在糖尿病、癌症、阿尔茨海默症、神经炎症等疾病的治疗方面表现出独特的潜在应用价值。现阶段研究表明,钒发挥其生物活性主要源于钒酸根作为磷酸根类似物对细胞内磷酸转移反应的影响,及钒在细胞内经氧化还原转化产生的活性氧物质对相关信号通路的调节;而钒化合物与细胞内靶点蛋白的相互作用亦被认为是发挥其治疗作用的关键因素。本文就钒的化学性质、钒化合物与血清蛋白的结合、钒化合物对细胞内效应靶点蛋白及其作用通路的调控、细胞内金属药物靶点蛋白分析鉴定等几方面,对近年来取得的相关研究的进展进行综述,以系统性阐释钒化合物用于疾病治疗的生物活性机制,并对进一步揭示钒化合物作用机理的探索方向及其药用前景进行展望。     

Indolocarbazole natural products: occurrence, biosynthesis, and biological activity

The indolocarbazole family of natural products, including the biosynthetically related bisindolylmaleimides, is reviewed (with 316 references cited). The isolation of indolocarbazoles from natural sources and the biosynthesis of this class of compounds are thoroughly reviewed, including recent developments in molecular genetics, enzymology and metabolic engineering. The biological activities and underlying modes of action displayed by natural and synthetic indolocarbazoles is also presented, with an emphasis on the development of analogs that have entered clinical trials for its future use against cancer or other diseases.     

Electrophilic intermediates and their reactions in superacids

Acid-catalyzed reactions have played a major role in hydrocarbon chemistry involving electron-deficient intermediates such as carbocations, carbodications, onium ions, etc. The pioneering discovery of the use of superacids by George A. Olah, in the early 1960s, to characterize such intermediates under so-called long-lived stable ion conditions led to the understanding of their structures and reactivity patterns much more clearly. Continuing studies in this area in the past 30 years have resulted in a paradigm shift in comprehending the stability and reactivity of electrophilic intermediates in superacid media.     

Oxyfunctionalization products of terpenoids with dimethyldioxirane and their biological activity

Oxyfunctionalization of the bioactive terpenoids, ursolic acid acetate (1), oleanolic acid acetate (5), lupeol acetate (12), and kaurenic acid (17), with dimethyldioxirane (DMDO) was investigated. Treatment of the terpenoids with DMDO under mild conditions afforded a variety of oxidation and oxydegradation products to yield naturally occurring and/or novel compounds in one step. After chromatographic separation, the structures of the individual isolated products were determined using spectroscopic methods including several homonuclear (1H-1H) and heteronuclear (1H-13C) shift-correlated 2D-NMR techniques. The inhibitory activity of the terpenoid derivatives against alpha-glucosidase was investigated and compounds 1, 3, 7, and 9 were found to exhibit potent activity.     

Piperazic acid-containing natural products: isolation, biological relevance and total synthesis

Since their first discovery in 1959, natural products containing the piperazic acid motif have been isolated from a variety of sources and exhibit diverse biological activity profiles. This review provides information about their isolation and biological activities, and presents an overview of recent total syntheses of these molecules.     

2-Pyrone natural products and mimetics: isolation, characterisation and biological activity

The review summarises natural products containing the 2-pyrone moiety. An emphasis has been placed upon the biological activity associated with 2-pyrones, particularly with respect to potential therapeutic or anti-microbial agents. Where appropriate, non-natural 2-pyrone analogues are discussed, particularly those derived from natural product lead compounds.     

Evolution of the total syntheses of ustiloxin natural products and their analogues

Ustiloxins A-F are antimitotic heterodetic cyclopeptides containing a 13-membered cyclic core structure with a synthetically challenging chiral tertiary alkyl-aryl ether linkage. The first total synthesis of ustiloxin D was achieved in 31 linear steps using an S(N)Ar reaction. An NOE study of this synthetic product showed that ustiloxin D existed as a single atropisomer. Subsequently, highly concise and convergent syntheses of ustiloxins D and F were developed by utilizing a newly discovered ethynyl aziridine ring-opening reaction in a longest linear sequence of 15 steps. The approach was further optimized to achieve a better macrolactamization strategy. Ustiloxins D, F, and eight analogues (14-MeO-ustiloxin D, four analogues with different amino acid residues at the C-6 position, and three (9R,10S)-epi-ustiloxin analogues) were prepared via the second-generation route. Evaluation of these compounds as inhibitors of tubulin polymerization demonstrated that variation at the C-6 position is tolerated to a certain extent. In contrast, the S configuration of the C-9 methylamino group and a free phenolic hydroxyl group are essential for inhibition of tubulin polymerization.     

Immunoliposomes and their targets

Immunoliposomes have been actively studied over the past two decades. However, researcher’s attention has still been limited to intensive preclinical trials and no one immunoliposomal formulation has passed clinical trials. This fact can be explained by a fear of complications, when mouse monoclonal antibodies are used as delivery vehicles. The situation has radically changed over the past few years. Nonimmunogenic single-chain antibodies have become an accessible research tool. Moreover, antibodies can be easily modified and conjugated with liposomes. Therefore, a vigorous breakthrough in the field of development of newgeneration immuno-liposomal formulations for oncological practice can be expected.     

Antimycobacterial natural products: synthesis and preliminary biological evaluation of the oxazole-containing alkaloid texaline

Texaline, an antimycobacterial oxazole-containing alkaloid previously isolated from Amyris texana and A. elemifera, and related compounds have been synthesized in order to explore aspects of the structure-antituberculosis activity relationship. While texaline was found to be inactive in our assays, simpler diaryloxazoles were more active whilst also exhibiting modest toxic selectivity, leading to their identification as potential lead compounds.     

anti-Tuberculosis natural products: synthesis and biological evaluation of pyridoacridine alkaloids related to ascididemin

There is an urgent need for novel therapeutics possessing new modes of action to treat tuberculosis (TB) infections. In this study we report on the synthesis and biological evaluation of a series of pyrido[2,3,4-kl]acridin-6-one alkaloids related to the anti-TB (MIC 0.35 μM) but cytotoxic (IC₅₀ <0.14 μM) marine natural product ascididemin (1). The most interesting compounds identified were 21 and 24, which were found to inhibit the growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) H₃₇Rv with MIC 2.0 μM, but with negligible cytotoxicity towards Vero and P388 cells (IC₅₀>25 μM). Another analogue (10) was evaluated against a range of singly-drug-resistant strains of Mtb and was found to exhibit no cross-resistance. These results suggest that the pyrido[2,3,4-kl]acridin-6-one skeleton may provide a useful scaffold for future studies directed towards possible anti-TB drugs.     

Web search and data mining of natural products and their bioactivities in PubChem

Natural products,as major resources for drug discovery historically,are gaining more attentions recently due to the advancement in genomic sequencing and other technologies,which makes them attractive and amenable to drug candidate screening.Collecting and mining the bioactivity information of natural products are extremely important for accelerating drug development process by reducing cost.Lately,a number of publicly accessible databases have been established to facilitate the access to the chemical biology data for small molecules including natural products.Thus,it is imperative for scientists in related fields to exploit these resources in order to expedite their researches on natural products as drug leads/candidates for disease treatment.PubChem,as a public database,contains large amounts of natural products associated with bioactivity data.In this review,we introduce the information system provided at PubChem,and systematically describe the applications for a set of PubChem web services for rapid data retrieval,analysis,and downloading of natural products.We hope this work can serve as a starting point for the researchers to perform data mining on natural products using PubChem.     

Reactions of Quinazoline Alkaloids and their Derivatives with Electrophilic Reagents

Nitration of deoxypeganine (DOP), deoxyvasicinone (DOV), 2,3-tetramethylene-, 2,3-pentamethylene-, and 3,4-dihydroquinazol-4-ones and their 1,2-dihydro derivatives was studied. It was shown that the reaction pathway changed depending on the presence of a carbonyl on C-4 and an N=C bond in these compounds. Only the H atom on C-6 was subject to nitration if both functional groups were present, for example DOV and its homologs. Substitution of the H atom of either the 6-position (DOP, 1,2-dihydro-DOV, and their homologs) or the 6- and 8-positions simultaneously (DOP and its homologs) was enhanced if one of these functional groups was missing depending on the substrate:nitrating agent ratio. The bromination and nitration reactions of 1,2-dihydro-DOV and its analogs in a 1:2 ratio were accompanied by oxidation of the N¹H-CH bond with formation of 6,8-dibromo- and 6,8-nitro-DOV and their homologs. The difference in the behavior of these compounds was due to the different nucleophilicity of the benzene rings in them. The reaction of 1,2-dihydro-DOV and its homologs with isocyanates and p-nitro- and p-methylbenzoic acid chlorides was studied. 6-Nitro- and 6,8-dinitro-DOP and 6,8-dibromo- and 6,8-dinitro-DOV and their homologs and 6-bromo- and 6-nitro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-2,3-polymethylenequinazol-4-ones and their 1-alkyl(aryl)-carbamoyl and p-nitro(methyl)-benzoyl derivatives were synthesized. The molecular structures of 1-ethyl-and 1-(o-chlorophenyl)-carbamoyl-1,2-dihydrodeoxyvasicinones and 6,8-dinitro-2,3pentamethylene-3,4-dihydroquinazol-4-one were established. UDC 547.944/945 547.856.1 Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 4, pp. 387-393, July-August, 2008. Original article submitted May 5, 2008.     

Fluorine-containing natural products

It is now more than 50 years since the first fluorinated natural product was identified. In that time only about a dozen fluorinated natural products have been isolated, the last one over a decade ago. Very little is known about the mechanism of biological fluorination although significant progress has been made in elucidating the pathway by which biosynthesis of fluoroacetate and 4-fluorothreonine occurs in the bacterium Streptomyces cattleya. In this article we review the fluorinated natural products and the current status of our understanding of fluorometabolite biosynthesis.