Tuberculosis (TB) is a pressing global health issue with approximately one third of the world’s population infected by this bacterium. As one of the most dangerous infectious diseases, it has killed approximately 1.7 million people of all ages around the world per year (World Health Organization, 2016). Currently, several drugs...
This study tested natural products from cyanobacteria from the Red Sea in Egypt and marine tunicates from the Algoa Bay in South Africa. Products from marine organisms have been used as lead compounds for the synthesis of new drugs because of their biological activity mechanism. Specifically, these products may contain...
Secondary metabolites (SMs) play an integral role in the life history of most fungal species. Fungal metabolomic studies provide insights into how fungi perform certain ecological functions, how they compete and interact with other organisms, and the breadth of fungal chemodiversity. Fungal SMs have also been utilized for a variety...
Chemical compounds produced by organisms, or natural products, are excellent sources of inspiration for anticancer pharmaceutical discovery (Rodrigues et al., 2016). Microtubule targeting agents are a specific class of compounds, often discovered from natural sources, that have been developed as clinically successful anticancer therapies (Steinmetz and Prota, 2018). In the...
In this report, three studies are presented that aid in the development of drug discovery and their synthesis. In each, the importance of the marriage between computations and experiments is highlighted. Continued efforts in this vein are essential for future efforts towards improving human health.
The first case study investigated...
Nitroaromatic compounds have important chemical applications and can be found in nature as pollution sources. Synthetic nitroaromatic compounds have been used in a variety of materials including explosives, pharmaceuticals, dyes, plastics, and pesticides. These compounds can find their way into the environment through normal or improper disposal methods.
Poly-aromatic compounds...
Freshwater systems cycle carbon along a spatial and temporal biogeochemical continuum, across which ecosystem processes contribute to transformations of organic matter (OM). Various ecological constraints impact rates OM transformation and production and consumption of the energetic end of respiration, methane. Microbiological processing and complete reduction of carbon substrates to methane...
Natural products have long been an important source of resources for humans. Many of these compounds possess unique chemical structures and potent biological properties. By targeting natural products with specific chemical properties, we can gain a better understanding of the roles these compounds play in the environment and their interactions...
Natural products (a.k.a. secondary metabolites) are produced by living organisms that are not essential for their growth, development, or reproduction, but may play a role in their survival or adaptability in nature. Many secondary metabolites isolated from plants and microbes have found use as molecular probes, drug leads, or medicine...
Aromatic heterocycles are core structural motifs in natural products, pharmaceuticals and biological polymers. Indoles, in particular, represent a significant subclass of aromatic heterocycles, both in terms of sheer numbers, but also in biological and pharmaceutical relevance. As such, new methodologies for the synthesis of indoles represent an important and continually...