About this Research Topic
With the application of new strategies in drug discovery, several bioactive naturally occurring compounds have been reported which exhibit efficacy against various human diseases. Identification of novel bioactive naturally occurring compounds appears to be a strong approach to possible new drug approval as well as providing safe and effective therapy. The discovery of a novel bioactive compound frequently triggers a breakthrough in basic science and often becomes a candidate for drug discovery or a biological probe for physiological studies. Therefore, this field of research has become a vital area for researchers and there will likely be a tremendous demand for natural product bioactive medicines in the coming years. Despite the great potential of natural product-based drugs to treat multifactorial diseases, a limited number of these compounds have reached clinical trials or market.
Accordingly, the main objective of this Research Topic is to provide a platform to increase researchers’ understanding of chemistry, mode of action and pharmacological activities of these compounds. In order to extend our knowledge on the effectiveness of bioactive natural products and explore their pharmaceutical applications, this Research Topic will focus on the following issues: all chemical aspects of bioactive natural products (isolation, structure elucidation, synthesis and SAR study), evaluation of their biological activities, and identification/elucidation of their molecular cell mechanism(s).
This Research Topic aims at gathering relevant and innovative research advances to highlight recent prospective and future trends in the chemical and biological aspects of bioactive natural products (semisynthetic and nature-based substances included). Both Original Research articles and Reviews are welcome for submission. Themes to be covered include, but are not limited to:
• Design and development of novel synthetic strategies for potentially bioactive naturally occurring compounds.
• Development of methodologies for discovery of naturally occurring bioactive molecules.
• Isolation and characterization of novel bioactive natural products
• Structure-activity relationship study to improve bioactivity and selectivity of bioactive naturally occurring compounds, aiming to improve pharmacological activities.
• Future trends for the development of novel and highly potent bioactive molecules based on natural products.
• Computational and mechanistic studies to identify or elucidate the mode of action of bioactive naturally occurring compounds (or derivatives) toward interesting drug targets.
• Metabolic and lipidomic profiling of bioactive naturally occurring compounds against multifactorial diseases.
Keywords: Bioactive compounds, natural products, Design, Chemical synthesis, SAR study, computational study, mechanistic study, Drug discovery, Biological properties
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.