title: Mimicking/extracting structure and functions of natural products: synthetic approaches that address unexplored needs in chemical biology.
abstract: Natural products are often attractive and challenging targets for synthetic chemists, and many have interesting biological activities. However, synthetic chemists need to be more than simply suppliers of compounds to biologists. Therefore, we have been seeking ways to actively apply organic synthetic methods to chemical biology studies of natural products and their activities. In this personal review, I would like to introduce our work on the development of new biologically active compounds inspired by, or extracted from, the structures of natural products, focusing on enhancement of functional activity and specificity and overcoming various drawbacks of the parent natural products.
authors.affiliation: Synthetic Organic Chemistry Laboratory, RIKEN, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako-shi, Saitama, 351-0198, Japan; RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako-shi, Saitama, 351-0198, Japan. gohirai@riken.jp.
authors.forename: Go
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hirai
mesh_terms: D001688:Biological Products / Q000737:chemistry; D040761:Biomimetic Materials / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D005732:Gangliosides / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D006020:Glycopeptides / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D018716:Molecular Mimicry; D015394:Molecular Structure; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000819:agonists / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010749:Phosphoprotein Phosphatases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D012632:Secosteroids / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
chemical_list: D001688:Biological Products; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D005732:Gangliosides; D006020:Glycopeptides; D016328:NF-kappa B; D012632:Secosteroids; D010749:Phosphoprotein Phosphatases
keywords: C-glycosides; bioorganic chemistry; inhibitors; natural products; structure-activity relationships