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Natural peroxy anticancer agents

Valery M Dembitsky1, Tatyana A Gloriozova, Vladimir V Poroikov

  • 1Department of Medicinal, Chemistry and Natural Products, School of Pharmacy, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel. dvalery@cc.huji.ac.il

Mini Reviews in Medicinal Chemistry
|June 23, 2007
PubMed

Insights

Natural products from land and sea offer promising anticancer agents, with over 120 showing in vitro activity. Limited supply necessitates total synthesis for further drug development.

Area of Science:

  • Natural product chemistry
  • Pharmacology
  • Drug discovery

Background:

  • Terrestrial and marine organisms are rich sources of novel anticancer compounds.
  • Over 120 cytotoxic agents have demonstrated in vitro activity against tumor cell lines.
  • Many natural products show potential but face development hurdles due to limited supply.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review novel natural anticancer agents from terrestrial and marine sources.
  • To highlight the importance of total synthesis for overcoming supply limitations.
  • To explore potential new applications predicted by computational analysis.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of natural product research.
  • Analysis of in vitro bioassay data for cytotoxic activity.
  • Discussion of total synthesis strategies for natural products.
  • Mention of computational prediction of biological activities using PASS.

Main Results:

  • Identification of over 120 cytotoxic compounds from natural sources.
  • Discovery of numerous potent cytotoxic agents from terrestrial and marine organisms.
  • Emphasis on terrestrial and marine peroxides as key sources for drug leads.

Conclusions:

  • Natural products, particularly peroxides, are vital for discovering new anticancer drugs.
  • Total synthesis is crucial for advancing natural product-derived drug candidates.
  • Further research is needed to overcome supply challenges and advance natural products into clinical use.

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