scholarly journals Bacteriophages as tools in drug discovery programs

2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ipek Kurtboke
Keyword(s):  
Natural Products ◽  
Drug Discovery ◽  
Bioactive Compounds ◽  
Bioactive Compound ◽  
Systematic Screening ◽  
Natural Sources ◽  
Microbial Natural Products

Screening of microbial natural products continues to represent an important route to the discovery of novel bioactive compounds for the development of new therapeutic or other important industrial agents. However, a continuous supply of diverse compounds is needed to meet the needs of industry. Such a supply can only be derived through systematic screening of bioactive compound-producing microorganisms from natural sources.

Fungal Bioactive Compounds in Pharmaceutical Research and Development

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanjai Saxena ◽  
Manmohan Chhibber ◽  
Inder Pal Singh
Keyword(s):  
Natural Products ◽  
Drug Discovery ◽  
Drug Development ◽  
Natural Product ◽  
Bioactive Compounds ◽  
Medicinal Chemistry ◽  
Bioactive Compound ◽  
New Drugs ◽  
Ecological Groups ◽  
Pharmaceutical Industries

Background:Exploration of antibiotics from microorganisms became widespread in the academia and the industry with the serendipitous discovery of Penicillin from Penicillium notatum by Sir Alexander Fleming. This embarked the golden era of antibiotics which lasted for over 60 years. However, the traditional phenotypic screening was replaced with more rational and smarter methods of exploration of bioactive compounds from fungi and microorganisms. Fungi have been responsible for providing a variety of bioactive compounds with diverse activities which have been developed into blockbuster drugs such as Cyclosporine, Caspofungin, Lovastatin and Fingolimod etc. It has been reported that ca. 40% of the 1453 New Chemical Entities (NCE’s) approved by USFDA are natural products, natural product inspired or mimics many of which have their origins from fungi. Hence fungal compounds are playing a very important role in drug discovery and development in the pharmaceutical industry.Methods:We undertook structured searches of bibliographic databases of peer-reviewed research literature which pertained to natural products, medicinal chemistry of natural products and drug discovery from fungi. With the strategic improvement in screening and identification methods, fungi are still a potential resource for novel chemistries. Thus the searches also comprised of bioactive agents from fungi isolated or derived from special ecological groups and lineages. To find different molecules derived or isolated from fungi under clinical studies, clinical trial data from the NIH as well as from pharmaceutical companies were also explored. This comprised of data wherein the pharmaceutical industries have acquired or licensed a fungal bioactive compound for clinical study or a trial.Results:Natural product chemistry and medicinal chemistry continue to play an important role in converting a bioactive compound into therapeutic moieties or pharmacophores for new drug development.Conclusion:Thus one can say fungal bioactive compounds are alive and well for development into new drugs as novel ecological groups of fungi as well as novel chemistries are being uncovered. This review further emphasizes the collaboration of fungal biologists with chemists, pharmacologists and biochemists towards the development of newer drugs for taking them into the drug development pipeline.

scholarly journals Modern Approaches in the Discovery and Development of Plant-Based Natural Products and Their Analogues as Potential Therapeutic Agents

Molecules ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 349
Author(s):  
Asim Najmi ◽  
Sadique A. Javed ◽  
Mohammed Al Bratty ◽  
Hassan A. Alhazmi
Keyword(s):  
Natural Products ◽  
Drug Discovery ◽  
Natural Product ◽  
Therapeutic Agents ◽  
Throughput Capacity ◽  
Scientific Interest ◽  
Comprehensive Overview ◽  
Natural Sources ◽  
Discovery Research ◽  
Drug Discovery Research

Natural products represents an important source of new lead compounds in drug discovery research. Several drugs currently used as therapeutic agents have been developed from natural sources; plant sources are specifically important. In the past few decades, pharmaceutical companies demonstrated insignificant attention towards natural product drug discovery, mainly due to its intrinsic complexity. Recently, technological advancements greatly helped to address the challenges and resulted in the revived scientific interest in drug discovery from natural sources. This review provides a comprehensive overview of various approaches used in the selection, authentication, extraction/isolation, biological screening, and analogue development through the application of modern drug-development principles of plant-based natural products. Main focus is given to the bioactivity-guided fractionation approach along with associated challenges and major advancements. A brief outline of historical development in natural product drug discovery and a snapshot of the prominent natural drugs developed in the last few decades are also presented. The researcher’s opinions indicated that an integrated interdisciplinary approach utilizing technological advances is necessary for the successful development of natural products. These involve the application of efficient selection method, well-designed extraction/isolation procedure, advanced structure elucidation techniques, and bioassays with a high-throughput capacity to establish druggability and patentability of phyto-compounds. A number of modern approaches including molecular modeling, virtual screening, natural product library, and database mining are being used for improving natural product drug discovery research. Renewed scientific interest and recent research trends in natural product drug discovery clearly indicated that natural products will play important role in the future development of new therapeutic drugs and it is also anticipated that efficient application of new approaches will further improve the drug discovery campaign.

scholarly journals Microbial Natural Products in Drug Discovery

Processes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 470
Author(s):  
Ahmed S. Abdel-Razek ◽  
Mehrez E. El-Naggar ◽  
Ahmed Allam ◽  
Osama M. Morsy ◽  
Sarah I. Othman
Keyword(s):  
Natural Products ◽  
Drug Discovery ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Emerging Diseases ◽  
Plant Resources ◽  
Political Factors ◽  
Traditional Medicines ◽  
History Of ◽  
Cardiac Disorders ◽  
Microbial Natural Products

Over a long period of time, humans have explored many natural resources looking for remedies of various ailments. Traditional medicines have played an intrinsic role in human life for thousands of years, with people depending on medicinal plants and their products as dietary supplements as well as using them therapeutically for treatment of chronic disorders, such as cancer, malaria, diabetes, arthritis, inflammation, and liver and cardiac disorders. However, plant resources are not sufficient for treatment of recently emerging diseases. In addition, the seasonal availability and other political factors put constrains on some rare plant species. The actual breakthrough in drug discovery came concurrently with the discovery of penicillin from Penicillium notatum in 1929. This discovery dramatically changed the research of natural products and positioned microbial natural products as one of the most important clues in drug discovery due to availability, variability, great biodiversity, unique structures, and the bioactivities produced. The number of commercially available therapeutically active compounds from microbial sources to date exceeds those discovered from other sources. In this review, we introduce a short history of microbial drug discovery as well as certain features and recent research approaches, specifying the microbial origin, their featured molecules, and the diversity of the producing species. Moreover, we discuss some bioactivities as well as new approaches and trends in research in this field.

Bioprospecting microbial metagenome for natural products

Biologia ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 68 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jana Nováková ◽  
Marián Farkašovský
Keyword(s):  
Natural Products ◽  
Drug Discovery ◽  
Secondary Metabolites ◽  
Functional Diversity ◽  
Genetic Information ◽  
Microbial World ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Natural Sources ◽  
Bioactive Natural Products ◽  
Uncultured Bacteria

AbstractMining of natural sources for new secondary metabolites has a successful history, which is reflected by the fact that over 50% of all drugs, currently on the market, are derived from natural products. Bacteria are one of the most important sources of bioactive natural products destined for drug discovery. However, less than 1% of the microorganisms observed in different habitats have been cultivated and characterized. To explore the genomic and functional diversity of the vast majority of the microbial world, novel methods were introduced, which are based on analysis of a DNA isolated from environmental communities. Metagenomics represents a strategy offering access to the genetic information present in uncultured bacteria by screening of libraries constructed from DNA isolated from different habitats. Functional- and sequence-driven screens are the major approaches employed to mine metagenomic libraries. This review aims to highlight discoveries in this area and discusses the possible future directions of the field.

Diversifying microbial natural products for drug discovery

2003 ◽  
Vol 62 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 446-458 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Knight ◽  
J.-J. Sanglier ◽  
D. DiTullio ◽  
S. Braccili ◽  
P. Bonner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Products ◽  
Drug Discovery ◽  
Microbial Natural Products

scholarly journals Drug Discovery on Natural Products: From Ion Channels to nAChRs, from Nature to Libraries, from Analytics to Assays

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 362-385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reka A. Otvos ◽  
Kristina B. M. Still ◽  
Govert W. Somsen ◽  
August B. Smit ◽  
Jeroen Kool
Keyword(s):  
Natural Products ◽  
Drug Discovery ◽  
Ion Channels ◽  
Ion Channel ◽  
Bioactive Compounds ◽  
Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors ◽  
Acetylcholine Receptors ◽  
Drug Targets ◽  
Α7 Nachr ◽  
Analytical Approaches

Natural extracts are complex mixtures that may be rich in useful bioactive compounds and therefore are attractive sources for new leads in drug discovery. This review describes drug discovery from natural products and in explaining this process puts the focus on ion-channel drug discovery. In particular, the identification of bioactives from natural products targeting nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) and serotonin type 3 receptors (5-HT3Rs) is discussed. The review is divided into three parts: “Targets,” “Sources,” and “Approaches.” The “Targets” part will discuss the importance of ion-channel drug targets in general, and the α7-nAChR and 5-HT3Rs in particular. The “Sources” part will discuss the relevance for drug discovery of finding bioactive compounds from various natural sources such as venoms and plant extracts. The “Approaches” part will give an overview of classical and new analytical approaches that are used for the identification of new bioactive compounds with the focus on targeting ion channels. In addition, a selected overview is given of traditional venom-based drug discovery approaches and of diverse hyphenated analytical systems used for screening complex bioactive mixtures including venoms.

Natural Products from Deep-Sea-Derived Fungi ̶ A New Source of Novel Bioactive Compounds?

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 186-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georgios Daletos ◽  
Weaam Ebrahim ◽  
Elena Ancheeva ◽  
Mona El-Neketi ◽  
Weiguo Song ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Products ◽  
Drug Discovery ◽  
Secondary Metabolites ◽  
Bioactive Compounds ◽  
Deep Sea ◽  
Underlying Assumption ◽  
Pharmacologically Active ◽  
Promising Source ◽  
New Metabolites

Background: Over the last two decades, deep-sea-derived fungi are considered to be a new source of pharmacologically active secondary metabolites for drug discovery mainly based on the underlying assumption that the uniqueness of the deep sea will give rise to equally unprecedented natural products. Indeed, up to now over 200 new metabolites have been identified from deep-sea fungi, which is in support of the statement made above. Results: This review summarizes the new and/or bioactive compounds reported from deepsea- derived fungi in the last six years (2010 – October 2016) and critically evaluates whether the data published so far really support the notion that these fungi are a promising source of new bioactive chemical entities.

scholarly journals Applications of Virtual Screening in Bioprospecting: Facts, Shifts, and Perspectives to Explore the Chemo-Structural Diversity of Natural Products

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kauê Santana ◽  
Lidiane Diniz do Nascimento ◽  
Anderson Lima e Lima ◽  
Vinícius Damasceno ◽  
Claudio Nahum ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Products ◽  
Virtual Screening ◽  
Bioactive Compounds ◽  
Chemical Space ◽  
Structural Diversity ◽  
Industrial Applications ◽  
Bioactive Molecules ◽  
Natural Sources ◽  
Compound Libraries ◽  
Pharmacokinetic Properties

Natural products are continually explored in the development of new bioactive compounds with industrial applications, attracting the attention of scientific research efforts due to their pharmacophore-like structures, pharmacokinetic properties, and unique chemical space. The systematic search for natural sources to obtain valuable molecules to develop products with commercial value and industrial purposes remains the most challenging task in bioprospecting. Virtual screening strategies have innovated the discovery of novel bioactive molecules assessing in silico large compound libraries, favoring the analysis of their chemical space, pharmacodynamics, and their pharmacokinetic properties, thus leading to the reduction of financial efforts, infrastructure, and time involved in the process of discovering new chemical entities. Herein, we discuss the computational approaches and methods developed to explore the chemo-structural diversity of natural products, focusing on the main paradigms involved in the discovery and screening of bioactive compounds from natural sources, placing particular emphasis on artificial intelligence, cheminformatics methods, and big data analyses.

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