The crisis of antibiotic resistance necessitates creative and innovative approaches, from chemical identification and analysis to the assessment of bioactivity. Plant natural products (NPs) represent a promising source of antibacterial lead compounds that could help fill the drug discovery pipeline in response to the growing antibiotic resistance crisis. The major strength of plant NPs lies in their rich and unique chemodiversity, their worldwide distribution and ease of access, their various antibacterial modes of action, and the proven clinical effectiveness of plant extracts from which they are isolated. While many studies have tried to summarize NPs with antibacterial activities, a comprehensive review with rigorous selection criteria has never been performed. In this work, the literature from 2012 to 2019 was systematically reviewed to highlight plant-derived compounds with antibacterial activity by focusing on their growth inhibitory activity. A total of 459 compounds are included in this Review, of which 50.8% are phenolic derivatives, 26.6% are terpenoids, 5.7% are alkaloids, and 17% are classified as other metabolites. A selection of 183 compounds is further discussed regarding their antibacterial activity, biosynthesis, structure-activity relationship, mechanism of action, and potential as antibiotics. Emerging trends in the field of antibacterial drug discovery from plants are also discussed. This Review brings to the forefront key findings on the antibacterial potential of plant NPs for consideration in future antibiotic discovery and development efforts.

Ethnobotany and the Role of Plant Natural Products in Antibiotic Drug Discovery.

Taxifolin, also known as dihydroquercetin, is a flavonoid commonly found in plants. Carbonic anhydrase (CA, EC 4.2.1.1) plays an important role in many critical physiological events including carbon dioxide (CO2)/bicarbonate () respiration and pH regulation. There are 16 known CA isoforms in humans, of which human hCA isoenzymes I and II (hCA I and II) are ubiquitous cytosolic isoforms. In this study, the inhibition properties of taxifolin against the slow cytosolic isoenzyme hCA I, and the ubiquitous and dominant rapid cytosolic isoenzyme hCA II were studied. Taxifolin, as a naturally bioactive flavonoid, has a Ki of 29.2 nM against hCA I, and 24.2 nM against hCA II. For acetylcholinesterase enzyme (AChE) inhibition, Ki parameter of taxifolin was determined to be 16.7 nM. These results clearly show that taxifolin inhibited both CA isoenzymes and AChE at the nM levels.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.3109/14756366.2015.1036051

Acetylcholinesterase and carbonic anhydrase isoenzymes I and II inhibition profiles of taxifolin

Objectives

In this review, we highlight and summarise the most promising extracts, fractions and pure compounds as potential anti-herpes simplex virus (HSV) agents derived from microorganisms, marine organisms, fungi, animals and plants. The role of natural products in the development of anti-HSV drugs will be discussed.



Key findings

Herpes simplex viruses (HSV-1 and -2) are common human pathogens that remain a serious threat to human health. In recent years, a great interest has been devoted to the search for integrated management of HSV infections. Acyclovir and related nucleoside analogues have been licensed for the therapy that target viral DNA polymerase. Although these drugs are currently effective against HSV infections, the intensive use of these drugs has led to the problem of drug-resistant strains. Therefore, the search for new sources to develop new antiherpetic agents has gained major priority to overcome the problem.



Summary

Natural products as potential, new anti-HSV drugs provide several advantages such as reduced side effects, less resistance, low toxicity and various mechanisms of action. This paper aims to provide an overview of natural products that possess antiviral activity against HSV.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/jphp.12436

Bioactive natural products with anti-herpes simplex virus properties.

Indole alkaloids: 2012 until now, highlighting the new chemical structures and biological activities.

The akuammiline alkaloids are a family of natural products that have been widely studied for decades. Although notable synthetic achievements have been made recently, akuammilines that possess a methanoquinolizidine core have evaded synthetic efforts. We report an asymmetric approach to these alkaloids, which has culminated in the first total syntheses of (−)-2(S)-cathafoline and the long-standing target (+)-strictamine. Moreover, the first enantioselective total synthesis of aspidophylline A is described.

/pdf/enantioselective-total-syntheses-of-akuammiline-alkaloids-2p4ufkfozm.pdf

Enantioselective Total Syntheses of Akuammiline Alkaloids (+)-Strictamine, (-)-2(S)-Cathafoline, and (-)-Aspidophylline A.

An unusual indole alkaloid with anti-adenovirus and anti-HSV activities from Alstonia scholaris

Four new lycodine-type alkaloids, namely 16-hydroxyhuperzine B (1), N-methyl-11-acetoxyhuperzine B (2), 8,15-dihydrolycoparin A (3) and (7S,12S,13R)-huperzine D-16-O-β-d-glucopyranoside (4), along with ten known analogues 5−14, were isolated from the whole plant of Lycopodiastrum casuarinoides. The structures of the new compounds were elucidated by means of spectroscopic techniques (IR, MS, NMR, and CD) and chemical methods. Compounds 1 and 2 possessed four connected six-membered rings, while compounds 3 and 4 were piperidine ring cleavage products. In particular, compound 4 was a lycopodium alkaloidal glycoside which is reported for the first time. Among the isolated compounds N-demethylhuperzinine (7), huperzine C (8), huperzine B (9) and lycoparin C (13) possessed significant inhibitory activity against acetylcholinesterase, and the new compound 1 showed moderate inhibitory activity. The structure activity relationships were discussed.

https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/19/7/9999/pdf

Lycodine-Type Alkaloids from Lycopodiastrum casuarinoides and Their Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitory Activity

(23E)-25-Methylcycloart-23-en-3β-ol (1), a cycloartane-type triterpenoid featuring an unusual skeleton of 31 carbon atoms, (17E)-cycloart-17,26-dien-3β-ol (2), a new cycloartane-type triterpenoid, and the other two new compounds 4R-hydroxy-4-(9S-hydroxy-12-methylhexan-6-yl)-3-methylcyclopent-2-enone (6) and 7-hydroxy-5-(2′-hydroxy-4′,5′-dimethoxyphenyl)-2-methoxy-6-methyl-1,4-naphthoquinone (7), together with three known cycloart-3β-ol triterpenoids (3—5) were isolated from aerial parts of Aphanamixis grandifolia. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic analysis, and that of 1 was confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The absolute configuration of two carbon stereocenters of compound 6 was determined to be 4R,9S by means of circular dichroism (CD) and auxiliary chiral α-methoxy-α-(trifluoromethyl)phenylacetic acid (MTPA) derivatives, respectively. The compound 3 exhibited significant cytotoxicities against HL-60, Hep G2 and HeLa, and compounds 1, 2, 5, 6 and 7 exhibited modest cytotoxicities. No activity of compound 4 could be due to the absence of the hydroxyl group at C-24.

/pdf/chemical-constituents-from-aphanamixis-grandifolia-51dcrtoutd.pdf

Li Zhang

Papers

An unusual indole alkaloid with anti-adenovirus and anti-HSV activities from Alstonia scholaris

Lycodine-Type Alkaloids from Lycopodiastrum casuarinoides and Their Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitory Activity

Chemical constituents from Aphanamixis grandifolia.

Thiophene acetylenes and furanosesquiterpenes from Xanthopappus subacaulis and their antibacterial activities.

Bioactive alkaloids from Palhinhaea cernua