title: Prenylated flavonoids: pharmacology and biotechnology.
abstract: Within the flavonoid class of natural products the prenylated sub-class is quite rich in structural variety and pharmacological activity. In the last twenty years a huge number of new structures has been reported, mostly from Leguminosae and Moraceae, with few coming from other genera. The presence, in different forms, of the isoprenoid chain can lead to impressive changes in biological activity, mostly attributed to an increased affinity for biological membranes and to an improved interaction with proteins. Molecules, such as xanthohumol and sophoraflavanone G, while being very structurally simple, show numerous pharmacological applications and are ideal candidates for SAR aimed to the discovery of new drugs. Only recently the biogenesis of these compounds has been more extensively studied and much attention has been focused on the enzymes involved in the modification and transfer of the prenyl unit.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Studi di Chimica e Tecnologia delle Sostanze Biologicamente Attive, Università La Sapienza, Piazzale A. Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy. Bruno.Botta@uniroma1.it
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Botta
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vitali
authors.forename: Pilar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Menendez
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Misiti
authors.forename: Giuliano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Delle Monache
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D005419:Flavonoids / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D008958:Models, Molecular; D015394:Molecular Structure; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D013729:Terpenes / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D005419:Flavonoids; D013729:Terpenes