Natural products in chemical biology.

摘要

Secondary metabolism plays a major role in the evolution of organisms as they represent a source of highly diversified molecular scaffolds able to interact with multiple protein targets [1, 2]. Such interactions may both serve as molecular clues to deter competitors, or alternatively facilitate symbiosis [3,4]. Thus, natural products are building blocks to generate and respond to evolutionary pressure. In the past millenia, humankind has relied on natural products for the elaboration of medicines and poisons [5, 6]. Indeed, some of the most influential molecules were discovered from medicinal and poisonous plants [7]. Insights into molecular mechanisms and the elucidation of macromolecular structures in the last fifty years has led to a target-based approach in the discovery and design of novel drug leads. Despite the opportunities offered by fully synthetic libraries and biologies, natural products continue to play important roles as lead compounds and unique probes to manipulate biological systems.