Accessing Bioactive Natural Products from the Human Microbiome.

Area of Science:

• Microbiology
• Pharmacology
• Biochemistry

Background:

• Natural products have historically been crucial for developing therapeutics.
• Soil and marine environments have been traditional sources of diverse chemical scaffolds.
• The human microbiome is an emerging source of novel secondary metabolites with therapeutic promise.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review how established methods for natural product discovery inform the study of the human microbiota.
• To explore the potential of human-associated bacteria in drug discovery.
• To highlight how these approaches can elucidate microbe-microbe and host-microbe interactions.

Main Methods:

• Leveraging historical natural product discovery techniques.
• Applying these techniques to the human microbiome.
• Analyzing microbial metabolites and their interactions.

Main Results:

• The human microbiome represents a significant, underexplored reservoir for therapeutic natural products.
• Established methodologies are effective in identifying bioactive compounds from microbiota.
• Insights into microbial interactions can guide the development of novel therapeutic strategies.

Conclusions:

• The study of the human microbiome, informed by a rich history of natural product research, holds significant potential for discovering new therapeutics.
• Understanding host-microbe and microbe-microbe interactions within the microbiome is key to unlocking new therapeutic modalities.
• This review bridges traditional natural product discovery with modern microbiome research, paving the way for future drug development.