Natural Products in Drug Discovery in the 21st Century: Challenges and Opportunities

Dear Colleagues,

The search for novel therapeutic agents has been an enduring quest in the field of medicine and pharmaceutical sciences. One promising strategy for drug discovery and development is the exploration of biodiversity, which has played an essential role in the development of numerous drugs. Moreover, natural products are also of the utmost importance in traditional medicine, being the basis of primary health care systems, particularly in developing countries. Furthermore, we are now observing an increasing consumption of natural-product-based supplements from botanical and marine sources, making their standardization and comprehensive scientific validation a priority to guarantee the safe use of these products. Consequently, over the past few decades, there has been a resurgence of interest in natural product research, both within the scientific community and the pharmaceutical industry. Earth's biodiversity offers an amazing collection of unique chemical structures that are difficult to replicate synthetically. The chemical diversity, historical successes, drug-like properties, and potential for novel mechanisms of action make natural products an indispensable resource and an invaluable opportunity for drug discovery.

This Special Issue, “Natural Products in Drug Discovery on the 21st Century: Challenges and Opportunities”, aims at gathering both original articles and comprehensive reviews related to research on natural products, focusing on their vital role in drug discovery. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following: the isolation and structural elucidation of bioactive compounds; in vitro or in vivo biological activities of secondary metabolites, along with their mechanism of action and/or possible applications; synthetic strategies for natural metabolites and/or analogs; hemi-synthesis of natural product derivatives with improved bioactivity; bioactivity of medicinal plant extracts and development of medicines; biological and pharmacological applications; essential oils with pharmaceutical interest; bioactive compounds against neglected tropical diseases; and infectious diseases and cancer.

Dr. Noelia Duarte
Guest Editor

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• natural products
• bioactive natural compounds
• marine drugs
• medicinal plants
• in vitro and in vivo biological activity
• pharmacological activity
• drug discovery
• medicinal and technological applications
• medicinal chemistry