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Natural Products Isolation in Modern Drug Discovery Programs

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Book cover Natural Products Isolation

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 864))

Abstract

Natural products play a vital role in drug discovery. They have served as the basic reference and initiators in drug discovery programs. Natural products as pure compounds have been involved in western medicine as drugs or lead compounds for drug discovery and development. In traditional medicine, they have been involved for a very long time as medicinal extracts, infusions, decoctions, or other therapeutic preparations. Modern drug discovery programs require an arsenal of drug candidate molecules in pure form whose activities (usually against cells or enzymes) are rapidly determined using high-throughput screening (HTS) and activities are expected in micro- (μM) to nanomolar (nM) levels. The difficulty in meeting today’s standards for drug candidate molecules poses the question: are natural products still relevant in modern drug discovery programs? This and other issues, including the spectroscopic investigation of crude extracts, are discussed.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Natural Products Research Laboratories, Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK

    Alexander I. Gray

  2. Natural Products Research Group, BCDD, Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK

    John O. Igoli & RuAngelie Edrada-Ebel

Authors
  1. Alexander I. Gray
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  2. John O. Igoli
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  3. RuAngelie Edrada-Ebel
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alexander I. Gray .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Applied Sciences, Department of Pharmacy, University of Wolverhampton, Wulfruna Street, Wolverhampton, WV1 1LY, United Kingdom

    Satyajit D. Sarker

  2. , Leicester School of Pharmacy, De Montfort University, The Gateway, Leicester, LE1 9BH, United Kingdom

    Lutfun Nahar

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Gray, A.I., Igoli, J.O., Edrada-Ebel, R. (2012). Natural Products Isolation in Modern Drug Discovery Programs. In: Sarker, S., Nahar, L. (eds) Natural Products Isolation. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 864. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-624-1_20

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-624-1_20

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-61779-623-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-61779-624-1

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