[Pharmacological effects, biosynthesis, and production of coumarin compounds: a review]

Coumarins mainly include simple coumarins, furanocoumarins, and pyranocoumarins. These compounds exhibit diverse biological activities, including anticoagulant, antibacterial, antitumor, and antioxidant effects, and thus possess high value for drug development. At present, coumarins are mainly obtained through traditional plant extraction methods. In recent years, synthetic biology has emerged as a new approach for the sustainable production of natural products. This article reviews the pharmacological effects, biosynthetic pathways, and biomanufacturing methods of different types of coumarins. It focuses on strategies for improving coumarin production, including the application of enzyme engineering based on directed evolution to modify rate-limiting enzymes and thereby enhance catalytic efficiency; the use of metabolic engineering to remodel metabolic flux, strengthen precursor supply, and weaken competing pathways, allowing more carbon flux to be directed toward target products; and the optimization of fermentation parameters through fermentation engineering to improve the viability of engineered strains and increase the yield of target compounds. These studies provide important references for the green, efficient, and sustainable production of coumarins, and are conducive to promoting the development of new coumarin-based drugs.