Adou Eba, Miller James S, Ratovoson Fidisoa, Birkinshaw Chris, Andriantsiferana Rabodo, Rasamison Vincent E, Kingston David G I
Department of Chemistry, M/C 0212, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
Indian J Exp Biol. 2010 Mar;48(3):248-57.
Plant natural products have historically been very important to drug discovery and development, particularly in the anticancer field. This is illustrated by a discussion of the structures and activities of camptothecin and its analogues, paclitaxel (Taxol), the vinca alkaloids vinblastine and vincristine, and podophyllotoxin and its analogues. A description of the isolation of one new and three known cardenolides from the Madagascar plant Pentopetia androsaemifolia is then provided as an example of this approach to drug discovery. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of betulinic acid, an old compound which is being developed into an anticancer and anti-HIV agent, and ipomoeassin F, an interesting antiproliferative compound isolated from a plant collected in Suriname.
植物天然产物在药物发现与开发过程中一直都极为重要，尤其是在抗癌领域。喜树碱及其类似物、紫杉醇（泰素）、长春花生物碱长春碱和长春新碱，以及鬼臼毒素及其类似物的结构与活性的讨论便说明了这一点。随后，本文介绍了从马达加斯加植物 Pentopetia androsaemifolia 中分离出一种新的和三种已知强心苷的过程，以此作为这种药物发现方法的一个实例。本文最后简要讨论了桦木酸（一种正在被开发成抗癌和抗艾滋病毒药物的古老化合物）以及异叶泽兰素 F（一种从苏里南采集的植物中分离出的有趣的抗增殖化合物）。
