The Success of Natural Products in Drug Discovery
- 1 Service des Sciences de la Vie, Ministère de l’Enseignement Supérieur, de la Recherche Scientifique et de la Formation des Cadres, Rabat, Morocco
Abstract
Drug discovery leading to robust and viable lead candidates’ remains a challenging scientific task, which is the transition from a screening hit to a drug candidate, requires expertise and experience. Natural products and their derivatives have been recognized for many years as a source of therapeutic agents and of structural diversity. However, in addition to their chemical structure diversity and their biodiversity, the development of new technologies has revolutionized the screening of natural products in discovering new drugs. Applying these technologies compensates for the inherent limitations of natural products and offers a unique opportunity to re-establish natural products as a major source for drug discovery. The present article attempts to describe the utilization of compounds derived from natural resources as drug candidates, with a focus on the success of these resources in the process of finding and discovering new and effective drug compounds, an approach commonly referred to as “ natural product drug discovery ”.
- M. Lahlou, “Screening of Natural Products for Drug Discovery,” Expert Opinion on Drug Discovery, Vol. 2, No. 5, 2007, pp. 697-705. doi:10.1517/17460441.2.5.697
- B. Patwardhan, A. D. B. Vaidya and M. Chorghade, “Ayurveda and Natural Products Drug Discovery,” Current Science, Vol. 86, No. 6, 2004, pp. 789-799.
- L. J. Nisbet and M. Moore, “Will Natural Products Remain an Important Source of Drug Research for the Future?” Current Opinion in Biotechnology, Vol. 8, No. 6, 1997, pp. 708-712. doi:10.1016/S0958-1669(97)80124-3
- E. J. Jacob, “Natural Products-Based Drug Discovery: Some Bottlenecks and Considerations,” Current Science, Vol. 96, No. 6, 2009, pp. 753-754.
- M. S. Butler, “The Role of Natural Product Chemistry in Drug Discovery,” Journal of Natural Products, Vol. 67, No. 12, 2004, pp. 2141-2153. doi:10.1021/np040106y
- Y. W. Chin, M. J. Balunas, H. B. Chai and A. D. Kinghorn, “Drug Discovery from Natural Sources,” The American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists Journal, Vol. 8, No. 2, 2006, pp. 239-242.
- J. H. Shen, X. Y. Xu, F. Cheng, et al., “Virtual Screening on Natural Products for Discovering Active Compounds and Target Information,” Current Medicinal Chemistry, Vol. 10, No. 21, 2003, pp. 2327-2342. doi:10.2174/0929867033456729
- C. Mahidol, S. Ruchi-rawat, H. Prawa, et al., “Biodiversity and Natural Product Drug Discovery,” Pure and Applied Chemistry, Vol. 70, No. 11, 1998, pp. 2065-2072. doi:10.1351/pac199870112065
- M. K. Lutz, “Putting Na-ture Back into Drug Discovery,” Nature Biotechnology, Vol. 21, No. 3, 2003, pp. 602-604. doi:10.1038/nbt0603-602
- L. J. Nisbet, M. Moore and D. D. Soejarto, “Will Natural Products Remain an Important Source of Drug Research for the Future?” Current Opinion in Biotechnology, Vol. 8, No. 6, 1997, pp. 708-712. doi:10.1016/S0958-1669(97)80124-3
- A. L. Harvey, “Medicines from Nature: Are Natural Products Still Relevant to Drug Discovery?” Trends in Pharmacological Sciences, Vol. 20, No. 5, 1999, pp. 196-198. doi:10.1016/S0165-6147(99)01346-2
- E. K Frank, G. T. Carter, “The Evolving Role of Natural Products in Drug Discovery,” Nature, Vol. 4, No. 3, 2005, pp. 206-220. doi:10.1038/nrd1657
- J. Littleton, “The Future of Plant Drug Discovery,” Expert Opinion on Drug Discovery, Vol. 2, No. 5, 2007, pp. 673-683. doi:10.1517/17460441.2.5.673