Special Issue on Natural Product Pre-fractionation

John A. Beutler, Ph.D.
Molecular Targets Development Program
Bldg.560-15,
NCI at Frederick
Frederick, MD 21702-1201, USA
(301)846-1942; (301)514-9814 cell; (301)846-6177 fax
E-mail: [email protected]
http://home.ncifcrf.gov/mtdp/

Natural products provide an unparalleled source of chemical diversity for discovery of important and interesting biologically active molecules. This bounty comes at a price, since crude extracts of natural products can be difficult to screen in bioassays, and must be fractionated with guidance from the bioassay to obtain pure compounds. If the active compounds are present in trace amounts this can become a very difficult and time-consuming process, or the activity may be missed altogether. Numerous companies and academic groups have therefore sought to remedy these problems by chromatographically separating the extract to various degrees of resolution.  This issue will examine a spectrum of different approaches and provide details on the technical challenges involved, the costs, and the rewards in improved identification of novel natural products.

Melissa M. Wagenaar
Natural Products Discovery Research, Chemical and Screening Sciences, Wyeth Research, 401 N. Middletown Road, Pearl River, New York 10965, USA; E-mail: [email protected]
Received: 30 May 2008 / Accepted: 16 June 2008 / Published: 20 June 2008
Article: Pre-fractionated Microbial Samples – The Second Generation Natural Products Library at Wyeth
Molecules 2008, 13, 1406-1426 (PDF format 487 K); DOI: 10.3390/molecules13061406

Tim S. Bugni, Mary Kay Harper, Malcolm W.B. McCulloch, Jason Reppart and Chris M. Ireland *
Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Utah, 30 S. 2000 E. RM 307, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; [email protected] Tel.: +1 (801) 581-8305; Fax: +1 (801) 585-6208
Received: 3 June 2008; in revised form: 18 June 2008 / Accepted: 18 June 2008 / Published: 19 June 2008
Article: Fractionated Marine Invertebrate Extract Libraries for Drug Discovery
Molecules 2008, 13, 1372-1383 (PDF format 284 K); DOI: 10.3390/molecules13061372

1. Eldridge, G. R.; Vervoort, H. C.; Lee, C. M.; Cremin, P. A.; Williams, C. T.; Hart, S. M.; Goering, M. G.; O'Neil-Johnson, M.; Zeng, L. High-throughput method for the production and analysis of large natural product libraries for drug discovery. Anal.Chem. 2002, 74 (16), 3963-3971.
2. Bindseil, K. U.; Jakupovic, J.; Wolf, D.; Lavayre, J.;  Leboul, J.;   van der Pyl, D. Pure compound libraries; a new perspective for natural product based drug discovery. Drug Discov. Today  2001, 6 (16), 840-847.

Manuscripts should be prepared according to the Instructions for Authors and submitted by e-mail before 30 May 2008 to [email protected] and a copy to [email protected] and [email protected]. The subject title of the message should be "Molecules Manuscript for Special Issue on Natural Product Pre-fractionation".

This thematic special issue will be fully Open Access with publishing fees paid by authors. Open Access (unlimited access by readers) increases publicity and promotes more frequent citations as indicated by several studies. More information is available at http://www.mdpi.org/oaj-supports.htm.