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Sustainable Approaches to Natural Product-Inspired Drug Discovery and Development

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A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Natural Products Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2023) | Viewed by 15670

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Heiko Lange

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Guest Editor

Department of Pharmacy, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
Interests: biomaterials; natural polymers; polyphenols; lignin; tannin; micro- and nanovesicles; nanoparticles; nanofibers; targeted delivery; structure elucidation; synthetic chemistry; flow chemistry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Margherita Brindisi

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Guest Editor

Department of Pharmacy, University of Naples ‘Federico II’, Naples, Italy
Interests: medicinal chemistry; drug discovery; drug repurposing/repositioning; structure–activity relationships; antiviral agents; antibacterials; anticancer agents; protease inhibitors; therapeutics for rare diseases
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Pressing environmental concerns and the general quest for more sustainable approaches in research and development are also affecting the field of drug discovery and development. Combining natural product-inspired discovery and development of actives and active formulations with approaches that adhere to ‘greener’ concepts and efficient use of renewable resources and energy represents a valuable future-oriented option in the biomedical and pharmaceutical fields. These approaches hold the promise to promote a substantial and cutting-edge change in the pharmaceutical industry.

We firmly believe that ‘nature knows best’, and we invite everyone involved in sustainable approaches to natural product-inspired drug discovery and development to share their latest conceptual findings and results. Rather than compiling a Special Issue that reads like a mere continuation of mainstream works, we would like to use the open access platform offered by Molecules to broadcast innovative, sustainable, natural-product-inspired strategies to drug discovery or design. Further, we aim at unveiling unconventional approaches and solutions in this field, including sustainable routes to standard or innovative drug formulations.

Dr. Heiko Lange
Dr. Margherita Brindisi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Natural products
Natural polymers
Drug discovery
Drug development
Drug delivery
Nature-inspired
Sustainability
Biomimetic

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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22 pages, 3497 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Linum corymbulosum Protects Rats against CCl₄-Induced Hepatic Injuries through Modulation of an Unfolded Protein Response Pathway and Pro-Inflammatory Intermediates

by Riffat Batool, Muhammad Rashid Khan, Muhammad Umar Ijaz, Irum Naz, Afsheen Batool, Saima Ali, Zartash Zahra, Safia Gul, Mohammad N. Uddin, Mohsin Kazi and Raees Khan

Molecules 2023, 28(5), 2257; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/molecules28052257 - 28 Feb 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1784

Abstract

Liver fibrosis is a major pathological feature of chronic liver disease and effective therapies are limited at present. The present study focuses on the hepatoprotective potential of L. corymbulosum against carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄)-induced liver damage in rats. Analysis of Linum corymbulosum methanol extract (LCM) using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) revealed the presence of rutin, apigenin, catechin, caffeic acid and myricetin. CCl₄ administration lowered (p < 0.01) the activities of antioxidant enzymes and reduced glutathione (GSH) content as well as soluble proteins, whereas the concentration of H₂O₂, nitrite and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances was higher in hepatic samples. In serum, the level of hepatic markers and total bilirubin was elevated followed by CCl₄ administration. The expression of glucose-regulated protein (GRP78), x-box binding protein-1 total (XBP-1 t), x-box binding protein-1 spliced (XBP-1 s), x-box binding protein-1 unspliced (XBP-1 u) and glutamate–cysteine ligase catalytic subunit (GCLC) was enhanced in CCl₄-administered rats. Similarly, the expression of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and monocyte chemo attractant protein-1 (MCP-1) was strongly increased with CCl₄ administration to rats. Co-administration of LCM along with CCl₄ to rats lowered (p < 0.05) the expression of the above genes. Histopathology of the liver showed hepatocyte injury, leukocyte infiltration and damaged central lobules in CCl₄-treated rats. However, LCM administration to CCl₄-intoxicated rats restored the altered parameters towards the levels of control rats. These outcomes indicate the existence of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory constituents in the methanol extract of L. corymbulosum. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Approaches to Natural Product-Inspired Drug Discovery and Development)

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9 pages, 1862 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Isosarcophytoxide Derivatives with a 2,5-Dihydrofuran Moiety from the Soft Coral Sarcophyton cinereum

by Chih-Hua Chao, Yuan-Jhong Wu, Tzu-Yin Huang, Chi-Jen Tai, Yi-Ju Chen, Chiung-Yao Huang, Chi-Chien Lin, Chang-Feng Dai, Hui-Chi Huang and Jyh-Horng Sheu

Molecules 2023, 28(2), 641; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28020641 - 08 Jan 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1203

Abstract

The present chemical investigation on the organic extract of the soft coral Sarcophyton cinereum has contributed to the isolation of four new cembranoids: 16β- and 16α-hydroperoxyisosarcophytoxides (1 and 2), 16β- and 16α-methoxyisosarcophytoxides (3 and 4), and a known cembranoid, lobocrasol (5). The structures of all isolates were elucidated by detailed spectroscopic analysis. Their structures were characterized by a 2,5-dihydrofuran moiety, of which the relative configuration was determined by DU8-based calculation for long-range coupling constants (⁴J_H,H). The cytotoxicity and immunosuppressive activities of all isolates were evaluated in this study. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Approaches to Natural Product-Inspired Drug Discovery and Development)

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8 pages, 1588 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

In Vitro Antimelanoma Properties of Verbena officinalis Fractions

by Rabia Nisar, Sanjay Adhikary, Saeed Ahmad and Mohammad Abrar Alam

Molecules 2022, 27(19), 6329; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/molecules27196329 - 26 Sep 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1460

Abstract

Verbena officinalis is commonly used in traditional medicine to treat many ailments. Extracts of this plant are therapeutic agents for the potential treatment of different diseases, including colorectal and liver cancers, but have not been explored for their anti-melanoma potential so far. The goal of the current work was to prepare a methanolic extract and fractionate it using hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, butanol, and acetone to get semi-purified products. These semi-purified fractions were studied for their potency against melanoma cell lines. The three potent fractions (HA, VO79, and EA3) demonstrated 50% inhibition concentration (IC₅₀) values as low as 2.85 µg/mL against the LOX IMVI cell line. All three fractions showed similar potency in inhibiting the growth of the B16 cells, a murine melanoma cell line. Based on high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) data, for the first time, we report on lupulone A from this plant. LC-MS data also indicated the presence of hedergonic acid, serjanic acid, and other compounds in V. officinalis extracts. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Approaches to Natural Product-Inspired Drug Discovery and Development)

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19 pages, 10744 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Synthesis and Investigation of Flavanone Derivatives as Potential New Anti-Inflammatory Agents

by Cynthia Sinyeue, Mariko Matsui, Michael Oelgemöller, Frédérique Bregier, Vincent Chaleix, Vincent Sol and Nicolas Lebouvier

Molecules 2022, 27(6), 1781; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/molecules27061781 - 09 Mar 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2739

Abstract

Flavonoids are polyphenols with broad known pharmacological properties. A series of 2,3-dihydroflavanone derivatives were thus synthesized and investigated for their anti-inflammatory activities. The target flavanones were prepared through cyclization of 2′-hydroxychalcone derivatives, the later obtained by Claisen–Schmidt condensation. Since nitric oxide (NO) represents an important inflammatory mediator, the effects of various flavanones on the NO production in the LPS-induced RAW 264.7 macrophage were assessed in vitro using the Griess test. The most active compounds were flavanone (4G), 2′-carboxy-5,7-dimethoxy-flavanone (4F), 4′-bromo-5,7-dimethoxy-flavanone (4D), and 2′-carboxyflavanone (4J), with IC50 values of 0.603, 0.906, 1.030, and 1.830 µg/mL, respectively. In comparison, pinocembrin achieved an IC₅₀ value of 203.60 µg/mL. Thus, the derivatives synthesized in this work had a higher NO inhibition capacity compared to pinocembrin, demonstrating the importance of pharmacomodulation to improve the biological potential of natural molecules. SARs suggested that the use of a carboxyl-group in the meta-position of the B-ring increases biological activity, whereas compounds carrying halogen substituents in the para-position were less active. The addition of methoxy-groups in the meta-position of the A-ring somewhat decreased the activity. This study successfully identified new bioactive flavanones as promising candidates for the development of new anti-inflammatory agents. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Approaches to Natural Product-Inspired Drug Discovery and Development)

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Review

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19 pages, 312 KiB

Open AccessReview

Pickering Emulsions as Vehicles for Bioactive Compounds from Essential Oils

by Yana Cahyana, Yunita Safriliani Eka Putri, Dian Siti Solihah, Farrah Shabira Lutfi, Randah Miqbil Alqurashi and Herlina Marta

Molecules 2022, 27(22), 7872; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/molecules27227872 - 15 Nov 2022

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 2346

Abstract

Pickering emulsions are emulsion systems stabilized by solid particles at the interface of oil and water. Pickering emulsions are considered to be natural, biodegradable, and safe, so their applications in various fields—such as food, cosmetics, biomedicine, etc.—are very promising, including as a vehicle for essential oils (EOs). These oils contain volatile and aromatic compounds and have excellent properties, such as antifungal, antibacterial, antiviral, and antioxidant activities. Despite their superior properties, EOs are prone to evaporation, decompose when exposed to light and oxygen, and have low solubility, limiting their industrial applications. Several studies have shown that EOs in Pickering emulsions displays less sensitivity to evaporation and oxidation, stronger antibacterial activity, and increased solubility. In brief, the application of Pickering emulsions for EOs is interesting to explore. This review discusses recent progress in the application of Pickering emulsions, particularly as EO carriers, drug carriers, antioxidant and antimicrobial carriers, and in active packaging. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Approaches to Natural Product-Inspired Drug Discovery and Development)

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Graphical abstract

28 pages, 6046 KiB

Open AccessReview

Catalytic Approaches to Multicomponent Reactions: A Critical Review and Perspectives on the Roles of Catalysis

by Brenno A. D. Neto, Rafael O. Rocha and Marcelo O. Rodrigues

Molecules 2022, 27(1), 132; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/molecules27010132 - 27 Dec 2021

Cited by 35 | Viewed by 5153

Abstract

In this review, we comprehensively describe catalyzed multicomponent reactions (MCRs) and the multiple roles of catalysis combined with key parameters to perform these transformations. Besides improving yields and shortening reaction times, catalysis is vital to achieving greener protocols and to furthering the MCR field of research. Considering that MCRs typically have two or more possible reaction pathways to explain the transformation, catalysis is essential for selecting a reaction route and avoiding byproduct formation. Key parameters, such as temperature, catalyst amounts and reagent quantities, were analyzed. Solvent effects, which are likely the most neglected topic in MCRs, as well as their combined roles with catalysis, are critically discussed. Stereocontrolled MCRs, rarely observed without the presence of a catalytic system, are also presented and discussed in this review. Perspectives on the use of catalytic systems for improved and greener MCRs are finally presented. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Approaches to Natural Product-Inspired Drug Discovery and Development)

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