Counting on natural products for drug design

Nat Chem. 2016 Jun;8(6):531-41. doi: 10.1038/nchem.2479. Epub 2016 Apr 25.

Abstract

Natural products and their molecular frameworks have a long tradition as valuable starting points for medicinal chemistry and drug discovery. Recently, there has been a revitalization of interest in the inclusion of these chemotypes in compound collections for screening and achieving selective target modulation. Here we discuss natural-product-inspired drug discovery with a focus on recent advances in the design of synthetically tractable small molecules that mimic nature's chemistry. We highlight the potential of innovative computational tools in processing structurally complex natural products to predict their macromolecular targets and attempt to forecast the role that natural-product-derived fragments and fragment-like natural products will play in next-generation drug discovery.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Biological Products / chemistry*
  • Biological Products / therapeutic use
  • Chemistry, Pharmaceutical / methods
  • Chemistry, Pharmaceutical / trends
  • Drug Design
  • Drug Discovery / methods*
  • Macromolecular Substances
  • Molecular Structure
  • Rosuvastatin Calcium / chemical synthesis
  • Rosuvastatin Calcium / chemistry

Substances

  • Biological Products
  • Macromolecular Substances
  • Rosuvastatin Calcium