Background Aside from caffeine, there is a relative dearth of evidence regarding natural ingredients that enhance subjective “energy” levels. We have studied a unique, naturally occurring purine alkaloid, present in Camellia assamica variety kucha tea (amongst other botanical sources) that acts on both adenosinergic and dopaminergic pathways that appears to influence multiple neurochemical path...

Neutrophil activation is associated with the development of organ injury after trauma-hemorrhagic shock. In the present study, ursolic acid inhibited the superoxide anion generation and elastase release in human neutrophils. Administration of ursolic acid attenuated trauma-hemorrhagic shock-induced hepatic and lung injuries in rats. In addition, administration of ursolic acid attenuated the hep...

The development of effective and safe anti-diabetic agent is still a major challenge for modern scientific research. Traditionally fruit juice of Momordica charantia has been used for treatment of diabetes for centuries. Charantin, a natural steroidal glycoside present in the fruits of this medicinal plant, has been reported to possess potential hypoglycemic activity. However, this phytoconstit...

Linking bioactive compounds to their cellular targets is a central challenge in chemical biology. Herein we report the mode of action of perthamide C, a natural cyclopeptide isolated from the marine sponge Theonella swinhoei. Through an emerging mass spectrometry-based chemical proteomics approach, Heat Shock Protein 90 and Glucose Regulated Protein 94 were identified as key targets of perthami...

At least 65% of all small molecule drugs on the market today are natural products, however, re-isolation of previously identified and characterized compounds has become a serious impediment to the discovery of new bioactive natural products. Here, genetic knockout of an unusual non-ribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) C-PCP-C module, aziA2, is performed resulting in the accumulation of the secon...

In an endeavor directed towards the construction of the oxabicyclic[3.2.1]octane segment present in the bioactive natural products of cortistatins and icetexanes genre, the title compound, C(13)H(19)BrO(3), was synthesized from (4aR,9aS)-1,3,4,4a,5,6,9,9a-octa-hydro-spiro-[benzo[7]annulene-2,2'-[1,3]dioxolane]-4a-ol via a transannular bromo-etherification protocol. The six-membered ring adopts ...

This manuscript reports the use of Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry to screen a combinatorially generated natural product-based library for binding affinity to bovine carbonic anhydrase II (bCAII). The fungal natural product 3-chloro-4-hydroxyphenylacetamide was the library template, with 11 secondary amide analogues of this template constituting the combinatorial lib...

MOTIVATION Although natural products represent a reservoir of molecular diversity, the process of isolating and identifying active compounds is a bottleneck in drug discovery programs. The rapid isolation and identification of the bioactive component(s) of natural product mixtures during the bioassay-guided fractionation have become crucial factors in the competition with chemical compound libr...

Covering up to end 2015Microbial fermentation provides an attractive alternative to chemical synthesis for the production of structurally complex natural products. In most cases, however, production titers are low and need to be improved for compound characterization and/or commercial production. Owing to advances in functional genomics and genetic engineering technologies, microbial hosts can ...

The management of dermatological hypersensitivity diseases is a lifelong struggle for most patients. Often, patients are advised to avoid triggers and aggregating factors that lead to flare ups which eventually becomes second nature to them. However, when the symptoms of these conditions become unbearable and conventional medicine no longer provides relief, an increasing proportion of allergy p...