Exploring Chemical and Biological Space of Terpenoids

J Chem Inf Model. 2019 Sep 23;59(9):3667-3678. doi: 10.1021/acs.jcim.9b00443. Epub 2019 Aug 21.

Abstract

Terpenoids represent the largest family of natural products (NPs) with dramatically chemical and structural diversity, which makes terpenoids the important compound resources of drug discovery. However, comprehensive understanding on the structure-function features for terpenoid NPs is limited. In this work, we have systematically explored the chemical and biological space of terpenoid NPs, including their distribution, physicochemical properties, scaffold features, and functional applications, by utilizing various cheminformatics and bioinformatics approaches. We have not only confirmed that terpenoid NPs have good drug-likeness and great potential for drug discovery but, more importantly, illuminated the uniqueness of cyclic scaffold diversity in different species (plants, fungi, bacteria, and animals) and the specificity of biological function for the dominant fused-ring scaffolds of terpenoids. The present work supplies a valuable reference for identifying the new structure and unknown function of terpenoid NPs.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Bacteria / chemistry
  • Biological Products / chemistry*
  • Biological Products / pharmacology
  • Cheminformatics / methods
  • Computational Biology / methods
  • Drug Discovery / methods*
  • Fungi / chemistry
  • Humans
  • Pharmaceutical Preparations / chemistry*
  • Pharmacology
  • Plants / chemistry
  • Terpenes / chemistry*
  • Terpenes / pharmacology

Substances

  • Biological Products
  • Pharmaceutical Preparations
  • Terpenes