Heptose-containing bacterial natural products: structures, bioactivities, and biosyntheses

Area of Science:

• Natural Product Chemistry
• Carbohydrate Chemistry
• Medicinal Chemistry

Background:

• Glycosylated natural products are promising drug candidates.
• Heptoses (seven-carbon sugars) are uncommon in natural products but possess diverse biological activities.
• Heptose-containing natural products exhibit antibacterial, antifungal, antitumor, and analgesic properties.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review structural properties of heptose-containing natural products.
• To summarize biological activities of these compounds.
• To highlight recent advances in the biosynthesis of bacterial natural products with heptose moieties.

Main Methods:

• Literature review up to 2020.
• Categorization of heptose structures (heptofuranose, reduced heptopyranose, D-heptopyranose, L-heptopyranose).
• Emphasis on biosynthetic pathways and origins of heptose moieties.

Main Results:

• Heptose natural products are classified into four structural groups.
• These compounds demonstrate significant antibacterial, antifungal, antitumor, and pain-relief activities.
• Progress in understanding the biosynthesis of bacterial heptose natural products is detailed.

Conclusions:

• Heptose-containing natural products are a valuable class of compounds with therapeutic potential.
• Understanding their biosynthesis is crucial for drug development and structure-activity relationship studies.
• Further research into bacterial heptose natural products is warranted.