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Drug discovery from natural products

  • Review Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology

Abstract

Natural product compounds are the source of numerous therapeutic agents. Recent progress to discover drugs from natural product sources has resulted in compounds that are being developed to treat cancer, resistant bacteria and viruses and immunosuppressive disorders. Many of these compounds were discovered by applying recent advances in understanding the genetics of secondary metabolism in actinomycetes, exploring the marine environment and applying new screening technologies. In many instances, the discovery of a novel natural product serves as a tool to better understand targets and pathways in the disease process. This review describes recent progress in drug discovery from natural sources including several examples of compounds that inhibit novel drug targets.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cetek Corporation, 260 Cedar Hill Street, Marlborough, MA, 01752, USA

    Vincent P. Gullo

  2. Ecopia Biosciences, 2790, Frederick-Banting, H4S 2A1, Saint-Laurent, QC, Canada

    James McAlpine

  3. Nereus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 13944 Kerry Lane, San Diego, CA, 92130, USA

    Kin S. Lam

  4. Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 65 Hayden Ave., Lexington, MA, 02421, USA

    Dwight Baker

  5. Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Lichtstrasse 35, 4002, Basel, Switzerland

    Frank Petersen

Authors
  1. Vincent P. Gullo
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  2. James McAlpine
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  3. Kin S. Lam
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  4. Dwight Baker
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  5. Frank Petersen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Vincent P. Gullo.

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Gullo, V.P., McAlpine, J., Lam, K.S. et al. Drug discovery from natural products. J IND MICROBIOL BIOTECHNOL 33, 523–531 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10295-006-0107-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10295-006-0107-2

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