scholarly journals Zebrafish as an Emerging Model for Bioassay-Guided Natural Product Drug Discovery for Neurological Disorders

Medicines ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arjun Pitchai ◽  
Rajesh Kannan Rajaretinam ◽  
Jennifer L. Freeman
Keyword(s):  
Natural Products ◽  
Drug Discovery ◽  
Natural Product ◽  
Neurological Disorders ◽  
Experimental Models ◽  
Bioactive Natural Products ◽  
Natural Product Research ◽  
Model Platform

Most neurodegenerative diseases are currently incurable, with large social and economic impacts. Recently, there has been renewed interest in investigating natural products in the modern drug discovery paradigm as novel, bioactive small molecules. Moreover, the discovery of potential therapies for neurological disorders is challenging and involves developing optimized animal models for drug screening. In contemporary biomedicine, the growing need to develop experimental models to obtain a detailed understanding of malady conditions and to portray pioneering treatments has resulted in the application of zebrafish to close the gap between in vitro and in vivo assays. Zebrafish in pharmacogenetics and neuropharmacology are rapidly becoming a widely used organism. Brain function, dysfunction, genetic, and pharmacological modulation considerations are enhanced by both larval and adult zebrafish. Bioassay-guided identification of natural products using zebrafish presents as an attractive strategy for generating new lead compounds. Here, we see evidence that the zebrafish’s central nervous system is suitable for modeling human neurological disease and we review and evaluate natural product research using zebrafish as a vertebrate model platform to systematically identify bioactive natural products. Finally, we review recently developed zebrafish models of neurological disorders that have the potential to be applied in this field of research.

scholarly journals Cryptosporidiosis: A Potential Anti-diarrheal Natural Product Drug Discovery Journey in Ghana, West Africa

2020 ◽  
pp. 85-93
Author(s):  
Senyo K. Botchie ◽  
Andrew G. Mtewa ◽  
Irene Ayi
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Natural Products ◽  
Drug Discovery ◽  
Drug Development ◽  
Natural Product ◽  
Causative Organism ◽  
Drug Candidates ◽  
Cause Of Deaths

The overwhelming resistance to current drugs and the exhaustion of drug development interventions, as well as synthetic libraries, have compelled researchers to resort to the use of novel drug candidates derived from natural products. Cryptosporidium, the causative organism of Cryptosporidiosis, is no exception. The diarrhea-causing parasite is known to be the leading cause of deaths in children below age 5 in developing countries like Ghana and second to rotavirus as the causative agent for diarrhea in newborn calves and infants. Currently, the only FDA approved drug for the treatment of Cryptosporidiosis is Nitazoxanide. It is, therefore, needful to develop novel alternative candidates as it could aid in the decrease in child mortality and malnutrition in developing countries. Even though there have been significant limitations into anti-cryptosporidial drug development in vitro and in vivo, essential advancements are being made of which this article addresses the need for research into natural products. Some studies outlined in this paper has stated potential plant extracts showing anti-cryptosporidiosis efficacy. With the wealth of medicinal plant products and Cryptosporidium in vitro culture expertise available in our labs at Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical research we are certain of making potential significant strides in the world of natural product Cryptosporidium drug discovery in Africa.

scholarly journals Regulation of Antimycin Biosynthesis Is Controlled by the ClpXP Protease

mSphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bohdan Bilyk ◽  
Sora Kim ◽  
Asif Fazal ◽  
Tania A. Baker ◽  
Ryan F. Seipke
Keyword(s):  
Natural Products ◽  
Rna Polymerase ◽  
Natural Product ◽  
Morphological Differentiation ◽  
Dynamic Responses ◽  
Biosynthetic Pathways ◽  
Recognition Sequence ◽  
Σ Factor

ABSTRACT The survival of any microbe relies on its ability to respond to environmental change. Use of extracytoplasmic function (ECF) RNA polymerase sigma (σ) factors is a major strategy enabling dynamic responses to extracellular signals. Streptomyces species harbor a large number of ECF σ factors, nearly all of which are uncharacterized, but those that have been characterized generally regulate genes required for morphological differentiation and/or response to environmental stress, except for σAntA, which regulates starter-unit biosynthesis in the production of antimycin, an anticancer compound. Unlike a canonical ECF σ factor, whose activity is regulated by a cognate anti-σ factor, σAntA is an orphan, raising intriguing questions about how its activity may be controlled. Here, we reconstituted in vitro ClpXP proteolysis of σAntA but not of a variant lacking a C-terminal di-alanine motif. Furthermore, we show that the abundance of σAntA in vivo was enhanced by removal of the ClpXP recognition sequence and that levels of the protein rose when cellular ClpXP protease activity was abolished. These data establish direct proteolysis as an alternative and, thus far, unique control strategy for an ECF RNA polymerase σ factor and expands the paradigmatic understanding of microbial signal transduction regulation. IMPORTANCE Natural products produced by Streptomyces species underpin many industrially and medically important compounds. However, the majority of the ∼30 biosynthetic pathways harbored by an average species are not expressed in the laboratory. This unrevealed biochemical diversity is believed to comprise an untapped resource for natural product drug discovery. Major roadblocks preventing the exploitation of unexpressed biosynthetic pathways are a lack of insight into their regulation and limited technology for activating their expression. Our findings reveal that the abundance of σAntA, which is the cluster-situated regulator of antimycin biosynthesis, is controlled by the ClpXP protease. These data link proteolysis to the regulation of natural product biosynthesis for the first time to our knowledge, and we anticipate that this will emerge as a major strategy by which actinobacteria regulate production of their natural products. Further study of this process will advance understanding of how expression of secondary metabolism is controlled and will aid pursuit of activating unexpressed biosynthetic pathways.

scholarly journals Evidences of Herbal Medicine-Derived Natural Products Effects in Inflammatory Lung Diseases

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernanda Paula R. Santana ◽  
Nathalia M. Pinheiro ◽  
Márcia Isabel B. Mernak ◽  
Renato F. Righetti ◽  
Mílton A. Martins ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Products ◽  
Herbal Medicine ◽  
Biological Activities ◽  
Biological Effects ◽  
Pulmonary Inflammation ◽  
Experimental Models ◽  
Chronic Obstructive ◽  
Anti Inflammatory

Pulmonary inflammation is a hallmark of many respiratory diseases such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and acute respiratory syndrome distress (ARDS). Most of these diseases are treated with anti-inflammatory therapy in order to prevent or to reduce the pulmonary inflammation. Herbal medicine-derived natural products have been used in folk medicine and scientific studies to evaluate the value of these compounds have grown in recent years. Many substances derived from plants have the biological effectsin vitroandin vivo, such as flavonoids, alkaloids, and terpenoids. Among the biological activities of natural products derived from plants can be pointed out the anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antiplatelet, antitumor anti-allergic activities, and antioxidant. Although many reports have evaluated the effects of these compounds in experimental models, studies evaluating clinical trials are scarce in the literature. This review aims to emphasize the effects of these different natural products in pulmonary diseases in experimental models and in humans and pointing out some possible mechanisms of action.

scholarly journals Ecopharmacognosy: Exploring The Chemical And Biological Potential Of Nature For Human Health

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey A. Cordell
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Natural Products ◽  
Drug Discovery ◽  
Natural Product ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Biologically Active ◽  
Minor Role ◽  
Natural Product Research ◽  
Biological Potential ◽  
The World

“Why didn’t they develop natural product drugs in a sustainable manner at the beginning of this century?”  In 2035, when about 10.0 billion will inhabit Earth, will this be our legacy as the world contemplates the costs and availability of synthetic and gene-based products for primary health care?  Acknowledging the recent history of the relationship between humankind and the Earth, it is essential that the health care issues being left for our descendants be considered in terms of resources. For most people in the world, there are two vast health care “gaps”, access to quality drugs and the development of drugs for major global and local diseases.  Consequently for all of these people, plants, in their various forms, remain a primary source of health care.  In the developed countries, natural products derived from plants assume a relatively minor role in health care, as prescription and over-the-counter products, even with the widespread use of phytotherapeutical preparations.  Significantly, pharmaceutical companies have retrenched substantially in their disease areas of focus.  These research areas do not include the prevalent diseases of the middle- and lower-income countries, and important diseases of the developed world, such as drug resistance. What then is the vision for natural product research to maintain the choices of drug discovery and pharmaceutical development for future generations?  In this discussion some facets of how natural products must be involved globally, in a sustainable manner, for improving health care will be examined within the framework of the new term “ecopharmacognosy”, which invokes sustainability as the basis for research on biologically active natural products.  Access to the biome, the acquisition, analysis and dissemination of plant knowledge, natural product structure diversification, biotechnology development, strategies for natural product drug discovery, and aspects of multitarget therapy and synergy research will be discussed.  Options for the future will be presented which may be significant as countries decide how to develop approaches to relieve their own disease burden, and the needs of their population for improved access to medicinal agents.

scholarly journals Expanding the Fluorine Chemistry of Living Systems Using Engineered Polyketide Synthase Pathways

Science ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 341 (6150) ◽  
pp. 1089-1094 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark C. Walker ◽  
Benjamin W. Thuronyi ◽  
Louise K. Charkoudian ◽  
Brian Lowry ◽  
Chaitan Khosla ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Products ◽  
Synthetic Biology ◽  
Natural Product ◽  
Polyketide Synthase ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Living Systems ◽  
Synthetic Compounds ◽  
Fluorinated Building Blocks

Organofluorines represent a rapidly expanding proportion of molecules that are used in pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, agrochemicals, and materials. Despite the prevalence of fluorine in synthetic compounds, the known biological scope is limited to a single pathway that produces fluoroacetate. Here, we demonstrate that this pathway can be exploited as a source of fluorinated building blocks for introduction of fluorine into natural-product scaffolds. Specifically, we have constructed pathways involving two polyketide synthase systems, and we show that fluoroacetate can be used to incorporate fluorine into the polyketide backbone in vitro. We further show that fluorine can be inserted site-selectively and introduced into polyketide products in vivo. These results highlight the prospects for the production of complex fluorinated natural products using synthetic biology.

scholarly journals Potentials of marine natural products against malaria, leishmaniasis, and trypanosomiasis parasites: a review of recent articles

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Justus Amuche Nweze ◽  
Florence N. Mbaoji ◽  
Yan-Ming Li ◽  
Li-Yan Yang ◽  
Shu-Shi Huang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Products ◽  
Drug Discovery ◽  
Marine Natural Products ◽  
Neglected Tropical Diseases ◽  
Marine Organisms ◽  
New Drugs ◽  
Screening Methods ◽  
Pharmaceutical Industries

Abstract Background Malaria and neglected communicable protozoa parasitic diseases, such as leishmaniasis, and trypanosomiasis, are among the otherwise called diseases for neglected communities, which are habitual in underprivileged populations in developing tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Some of the currently available therapeutic drugs have some limitations such as toxicity and questionable efficacy and long treatment period, which have encouraged resistance. These have prompted many researchers to focus on finding new drugs that are safe, effective, and affordable from marine environments. The aim of this review was to show the diversity, structural scaffolds, in-vitro or in-vivo efficacy, and recent progress made in the discovery/isolation of marine natural products (MNPs) with potent bioactivity against malaria, leishmaniasis, and trypanosomiasis. Main text We searched PubMed and Google scholar using Boolean Operators (AND, OR, and NOT) and the combination of related terms for articles on marine natural products (MNPs) discovery published only in English language from January 2016 to June 2020. Twenty nine articles reported the isolation, identification and antiparasitic activity of the isolated compounds from marine environment. A total of 125 compounds were reported to have been isolated, out of which 45 were newly isolated compounds. These compounds were all isolated from bacteria, a fungus, sponges, algae, a bryozoan, cnidarians and soft corals. In recent years, great progress is being made on anti-malarial drug discovery from marine organisms with the isolation of these potent compounds. Comparably, some of these promising antikinetoplastid MNPs have potency better or similar to conventional drugs and could be developed as both antileishmanial and antitrypanosomal drugs. However, very few of these MNPs have a pharmaceutical destiny due to lack of the following: sustainable production of the bioactive compounds, standard efficient screening methods, knowledge of the mechanism of action, partnerships between researchers and pharmaceutical industries. Conclusions It is crystal clear that marine organisms are a rich source of antiparasitic compounds, such as alkaloids, terpenoids, peptides, polyketides, terpene, coumarins, steroids, fatty acid derivatives, and lactones. The current and future technological innovation in natural products drug discovery will bolster the drug armamentarium for malaria and neglected tropical diseases.

Updates on Managing Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus with Natural Products: Towards Antidiabetic Drug Development

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (39) ◽  
pp. 5395-5431 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fahmida Alam ◽  
Md. Asiful Islam ◽  
Mohammad Amjad Kamal ◽  
Siew Hua Gan
Keyword(s):  
Diabetes Mellitus ◽  
Type 2 Diabetes ◽  
Natural Products ◽  
Drug Discovery ◽  
Drug Development ◽  
Discovery Process ◽  
Drug Discovery Process

Over the years, natural products have shown success as antidiabetics in in vitro, in vivo studies and clinical trials. Because natural product-derived drugs are more affordable and effective with fewer side-effects compared to conventional therapies, pharmaceutical research is increasingly leaning towards the discovery of new antidiabetic drugs from natural products targeting pathways or components associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) pathophysiology. However, the drug discovery process is very lengthy and costly with significant challenges. Therefore, various techniques are currently being developed for the preclinical research phase of drug discovery with the aim of drug development with less time and efforts from natural products. In this review, we have provided an update on natural products including fruits, vegetables, spices, nuts, beverages and mushrooms with potential antidiabetic activities from in vivo, in vitro and clinical studies. Synergistic interactions between natural products and antidiabetic drugs, and potential antidiabetic active compounds from natural products are also documented to pave the way for combination treatment and new drug discovery, respectively. Additionally, a brief idea of the drug discovery process along with the challenges that arise during drug development from natural products and the methods to conquer those challenges are discussed to create a more convenient future drug discovery process.

Natural product inhibitors of cyclooxygenase (COX) enzyme: A Review on Current status and future perspectives

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Goutami Ambati G ◽  
Sanjay M. Jachak
Keyword(s):  
Natural Products ◽  
Natural Product ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Marine Origin ◽  
Cox Inhibitors ◽  
Potential Source ◽  
Cox 2 ◽  
Inhibition Property

Background: Several clinically used COX-1 and COX-2 inhibitor drugs were reported to possess severe side effects like GI ulcers and cardiovascular disturbances, respectively. Natural products being structurally diverse always attracted the attention of chemists/medicinal chemists as a potential source of lead molecules in drug discovery process. COX-2 inhibitory natural products also possess potential cancer chemopreventive property against various cancers including that of colon, breast, and prostate. Methods: Various in vitro, in vivo, in silico standardized methods were used to evaluate COX inhibition property of different secondary metabolites isolated from plant, microbial and marine origin. Results: We had earlier reported a detailed account of natural product inhibitors of COX reported during 1995-2005 in 2006. In the proposed review we report 158 natural product inhibitors of COX during 2006 to 2019 belonging to various secondary metabolite classes such as alkaloids, terpenoids, polyphenols as flavonoids, chromones, coumarins, lignans, anthraquinones, naphthalenes, curcuminoids, diarylheptanoids and miscellaneous compounds of plant and marine origin. Further structure activity relationship (SAR) studies of possible leads are also included in the article. Conclusion: COX inhibitors served as a potential source of lead molecules for discovery and development of anti-inflammatory drugs. Compilation of natural product and semi-synthetic inhibitors of COX may serve as valuable information to the researchers who are looking for possible lead molecules from natural source to conduct further preclinical and clinical studies.

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