Natural Products Blog

We are delighted to welcome Professor Roberto Berlinck (University of São Paulo), Dr Susana P. Gaudêncio (NOVA University of Lisbon), Dr Fidele Ntie-Kang (University of Buea), Dr Reiko Ueoka (Kitasato University) and Professor Weidong Zhang (Second Military Medical University) to the Natural Product Reports team as Advisory Board members.

Roberto is currently a Professor at the University of São Paulo. Research interests of Roberto include the biodiscovery of bioactive natural products, biosynthesis of microbial secondary metabolites, investigating the chemistry of microbe-holobionts associations as well as collaborative projects in synthesis and medicinal chemistry. One of Roberto’s group’s major interests is in developing new approaches towards the isolation of novel natural products. These include compounds from very complex biological matrixes, minor metabolites and water-soluble compounds, as well as methods for the optimisation of microbial metabolite production in order to increase isolation yields.

Susana has a MSc in Technological Organic Chemistry and a PhD in Organic Chemistry and is the Leader of the Blue Biotechnology & Biomedicine Lab at UCIBIO, NOVA-FCT, NOVA University of Lisbon. Her research focuses on the study of marine-derived Actinobacteria from off the coasts of the Portugal mainland and the Macaronesia Archipelagos for the discovery of bioactive natural products as lead-like agents for drug discovery and other biotechnological applications. She is a Working Group Leader, Management Committee Member and STSM Committee Member of the Cost Action Ocean4Biotech: CA18238 – European transdisciplinary networking platform for marine biotechnology. In 2019, she hosted two of the world’s most prestigious congresses in marine natural products, the joint XVI MANAPRO & XI ECMNP in Peniche, Portugal.

Fidele is an Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the Department of Chemistry, University of Buea in Cameroon where he also heads the Centre for Drug Discovery. After studying chemistry and physics at the University of Douala in Cameroon, he completed a PhD in computer-aided drug design. He then moved to Germany where he carried out postdoctoral research under Prof. Wolfgang Sippl leading to an habilitation in pharmaceutical chemistry. Since then, his research has been focused on chemoinformatics for natural products research, a topic in which he is an editor of a book series. He holds several editorial board appointments and is passionate about drug discovery from natural products identified from African medicinal plants. His major contribution is the development of the African Natural Products Database.

Reiko Ueoka obtained her PhD (2011) at the University of Tokyo and is currently a Junior Associate Professor at the School of Marine Biosciences, Kitasato University in Japan. Her research focuses on the discovery of novel natural products from bacteria by bioactivity-guided isolation and genome mining. She is also interested in their biosynthesis and the function of the modifying enzymes.

Wei-Dong Zhang is currently a professor of the Institute of Medicinal Plant Development and Second Military Medical University. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree from Second Military Medical University in 1988 and 1991, respectively. He received his PhD in Natural Product Chemistry in 1998 from the Shanghai Institute of Pharmaceutical Industry with Professor Hui-Ting Li. His research focuses on the total synthesis, biological function, structural modification and structure-activity relationship of structurally complex and bioactive natural products.

Find some of their recent RSC publications below:

Visible-light-induced [3+2] cycloadditions of donor/donor diazo intermediates with alkenes to achieve (spiro)-pyrazolines and pyrazoles
Chem. Sci., 2023, 14, 10411-10419, DOI: 10.1039/D3SC04188C, Edge Article

Uranyl nitrate as a recyclable homogeneous photocatalyst for selective cross-coupling of N-substituted amines and indoles
RSC. Adv., 2023, 13, 11929-11937, DOI: 10.1039/D3RA01037F, Paper

The isolation of water-soluble natural products – challenges, strategies and perspectives
Nat. Prod. Rep., 2022, 39, 596-669, DOI: 10.1039/D1NP00037C, Review Article

The chemistry and biology of guanidine secondary metabolites
Nat. Prod. Rep., 2021, 38, 586-667, DOI: 10.1039/D0NP00051E, Review Article

Cytotoxic and antitumor peptides as novel chemotherapeutics
Nat. Prod. Rep., 2021, 38, 7-17, DOI: 10.1039/D0NP00019A, Highlight

Post-synthetic functionalization of tryptophan protected peptide sequences through indole (C-2) photocatalytic alkylation
Chem. Commun., 2021, 57, 5758-5761, DOI: 10.1039/D1CC01822A, Communication

In search of therapeutic candidates for HIV/AIDS: rational approaches, design strategies, structure–activity relationship and mechanistic insights
RSC. Adv., 2021, 11, 17936-17964, DOI: 10.1039/D0RA10655K, Review Article

Natural products in Cyperus rotundus L. (Cyperaceae): an update of the chemistry and pharmacological activities
RSC. Adv., 2021, 11, 15070-15077, DOI: 10.1039/D1RA00478F, Review Article

Dereplication: racing to speed up the natural products discovery process
Nat. Prod. Rep., 2015, 32, 779-810, DOI: 10.1039/C4NP00134F, Review Article

Colibactin biosynthesis and biological activity depend on the rare aminomalonyl polyketide precursor
Chem. Commun., 2015, 51, 13138-13141, DOI: 10.1039/C5CC02718G, Communication

Natural Product Reports is delighted to welcome Associate Professor Alessandra Eustáquio and Professor Hidetoshi Tokuyama to the Editorial Board.

About Alessandra

Alessandra holds a BSc in Pharmacy and Biochemistry from the University of São Paulo, Brazil and a PhD in Pharmaceutical Biology from the University of Tübingen, Germany. After undergoing postdoctoral training at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, she was a Principal Scientist in the Natural Products group of Pfizer’s Research & Development site in Connecticut, USA for four years.

She is currently an Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois at Chicago. Her research focuses on natural product biosynthesis and the development of synthetic biology tools to facilitate access to natural and engineered molecules. Find out more about Alessandra’s research on her webpage.

About Hidetoshi

Hidetoshi is a Professor at the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tohoku University in Japan. He obtained a BSc, MSc and PhD in Chemistry from Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1990, 1992 and 1994, respectively, supervised by Professor Eiichi Nakamura. After spending a year as a postdoctoral fellow with Professor Amos B Smith III at the University of Pennsylvania, he started his academic career as an assistant professor in Professor Tohru Fukuyama’s group at the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Tokyo in 1996, where he was later promoted to lecturer and associate professor. Since 2006, he has been a full professor at Tohoku University.

His research focuses on the development of synthetic methodologies including highly chemoselective functional group interconversions and the construction of N-containing heterocycles, and the total synthesis of structurally complex natural products. Find out more about Hidetoshi’s research on his webpage.

Natural Product Reports is delighted to welcome Dr Cassandra L. Quave to the Editorial Board.

About Cassandra:

Dr Cassandra Quave is Curator of the Herbarium and Associate Professor of Dermatology and Human Health at Emory University, USA, where she leads natural product drug discovery research initiatives and teaches courses on medicinal plants, microbiology, and pharmacology. She obtained a B.Sc. in Biology and Anthropology (Emory University, 2000) and a Ph.D. in Biology (Florida International University, 2008).

Dr. Quave’s research is supported by the NIH, industry contracts, and philanthropy. She is a Fellow of the Explorers Club, a past President of the Society for Economic Botany, a recipient of the Emory Williams Teaching Award and Charles Heiser, Jr. Mentor Award. She is the host of Foodie Pharmacology, a podcast dedicated to exploring the links between food and medicine. Dr Quave has authored more than 100 scientific publications, two edited books, and seven patents. Her research has been the subject of feature profiles in the New York Times Magazine, BBC Science Focus, National Geographic Magazine, Brigitte Magazin, NPR, PBS, and the National Geographic Channel. She is the author of a science memoir entitled The Plant Hunter: One Scientist’s Quest for Nature’s Next Medicines.

As a medical ethnobotanist, Cassandra’s work focuses on the documentation and pharmacological evaluation of plants used in traditional medicine. Find out more about about Cassandra’s research on her webpage.

Prof. Heike Brötz-Oesterhelt

Natural Product Reports is delighted to welcome Professor Heike Brötz-Oesterhelt to the Editorial Board.

Heike Brötz-Oesterhelt holds a degree in Microbiology from the University of Bonn. After her PhD in 1997, she joined the Anti-Infectives Research Department of Bayer HealthCare, leading hit and lead discovery teams for 8 years. In 2004, she co-founded the anti-infective biotech company AiCuris, Wuppertal, Germany. She returned to academia as a professor for Pharmaceutical Biology at the University of Duesseldorf in 2010, and four years later became Chair of the Department of Microbial Bioactive Compounds at the University of Tuebingen. She is speaker of the Transregional Collaborative Research Centre TRR261 ‘Cellular Mechanisms of Antibiotic Action and Production’ and co-speaker of the Cluster of Excellence “Controlling Microbes to Fight Infection”.

Heike is particularly interested in the molecular mechanisms of new antibacterial natural products and the operation modes of novel antibiotic targets. Find out more about Heike’s research on her webpage, or by reading her Open Access NPR article below:

Conformational control of the bacterial Clp protease by natural product antibiotics

We are delighted to announce that Professor Tobias A. M. Gulder is the new Chair of the Natural Product Reports Editorial Board.

“Natural Product Reports has been my favorite journal for critical reviews in natural product chemistry since entering the field as a graduate student. I became a member of the Editorial Board of NPR in 2017 and have since enjoyed working with the Royal Society of Chemistry Editorial Team and the Board Members to further develop the journal. I feel honored to succeed Brad Moore as the Chair of the journal and look forward to continue his successful work for the natural product community.”

We are very grateful to Professor Bradley Moore for all of his contributions to the journal during his years with us as an Editorial Board member and then as Chair.

As we wish Professor Moore well with his future endeavours we warmly welcome Professor Gulder to his new position, leading the journal to continued success.

About Tobias

Tobias A. M. Gulder holds degrees in Chemistry from the University of Würzburg (Diploma 2004, PhD 2008). After postdoctoral training at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography with Bradley Moore (2008-2010) he started his independent work as a Liebig and Emmy Noether fellow at the University of Bonn (2011-2014). In 2014 he accepted to offer to join the Technical University of Munich as Professor of Biosystems Chemistry at the Department of Chemistry and the Center for Integrated Protein Science Munich (CIPSM). In 2019 he became the Chair of Technical Biochemistry at the Technical University of Dresden.

Professor Gulder’s research interests focus on the structure, biosynthesis and synthesis of bacterial natural products. This includes the elucidation of new biosynthetic transformations and their application to the biocatalytic synthesis of natural products as well as the manipulation of biosynthetic pathways to generate new molecular structures.

We are delighted to welcome two new Editorial Board Members to Natural Product Reports. Professor Hendrik Luesch (University of Florida, USA) and Dr Marnix Medema (Wageningen University, Netherlands).

Professor Hendrik Luesch leads a multidisciplinary marine natural products research program that integrates isolation, synthesis, pharmacology, mechanism of action and early development studies. Find out more on his lab’s webpage.

Hendrik obtained his PhD at University of Hawaii with Richard E. Moore in 2002. He undertook three years of postdoctoral studies  as an Irving S. Sigal Fellow at The Scripps Research Institute with Peter G. Schultz. Since 2005 he has been faculty at the University of Florida (UF) and is currently Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicinal Chemistry.

Dr Marnix Medema’s group currently develops and applies computational tools to understand bacterial, fungal and plant natural product biosynthesis from a genomic perspective. Find out more on his webpage.

Marnix completed his PhD in 2013 in the groups of Eriko Takano and Rainer Breitling at the University of Groningen. In 2015, following a postdoctoral fellowship in the group of Frank Oliver Glöckner (Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen, Germany), he joined Wageningen University.

We are very pleased to welcome two new members to our Natural Product Reports Editorial Board. Professor Janet Smith (University of Michigan, USA) and Dr Olga Genilloud (Fundación MEDINA, Spain).

Professor Janet Smith obtained her PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1978. After postdoctoral studies at the Naval Research Laboratory, she was an associate research scientist at Columbia University.  Professor Smith moved to Purdue University and established a research program in structural biology in 1987, where she remained as Professor of Biological Sciences until moving to the Life Science Institute, University of Michigan, in 2005. She is currently Margaret J. Hunter Collegiate Professor in the Life Sciences, Professor of Biological Chemistry and Director of the Centre for Structural Biology at University of Michigan.

Her research focuses on:

• Understanding protein structure and function using X-ray crystallography as a structural tool
• Examining the structures of proteins from infectious pathogens including the RNA viruses that cause West Nile disease, yellow fever, and dengue hemorrhagic fever
• Understanding the operation of biosynthetic assembly lines for natural products and the activity and selectivity of enzymes that catalyse unusual reactions in natural product biosynthesis

Dr Olga Genilloud obtained her PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid in 1988. Following this she joined the Drug Discovery Research Center at Merck Sharp and Dohme in Spain were she led the bacterial natural products program. In 2009 she was appointed Scientific Director at Fundación MEDINA and Head of the Microbiology department.

Her main research interests are focused on:

• The production of novel microbial natural products
• The exploration of novel microbial diversity to deliver novel chemistry
• The development of molecular and chemical tools to support natural products drug discovery and the identification of potential new therapeutics

Find out more about the other members of our Editorial and Advisory Boards here.

As the new year gets underway we would like to share some changes to our Editorial Board.

Editorial Board Retirements

After 6 years with Natural Product Reports we are very sorry to see Professors David L. Jakeman and Stefan Schulz step down from their roles on the Editorial Board. We would like to take this opportunity to thank both David and Stefan for all of their time and effort over the past 6 years, helping to make the journal the success it is today. Thank you!

However, we are pleased to say that although David and Stefan may be leaving the Editorial Board they will not be leaving us entirely. Both are now members of the Advisory Board for the journal and we look forward to continue working with them in the future in this new role.

Prof. David L. Jakeman

Prof. Stefan Schulz

New Editorial Board Members

We would also like to take this opportunity to welcome some new faces to the Natural Product Reports family.

Prof. Giovanni Appendino

Professor Giovanni Appendino, Universita del Piemonte Orientale, Italy.

Professor Giovanni Appendino did his Laurea Degree at the University of Torino (Italy) in 1979. He did Post-Laurea work at the Laboratory of Organic Synthesis, University of Gent (Belgium) with Prof. Pierre De Clercq. He has been a Full Professor of Organic Chemistry at the Università del Piemonte Orientale, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Novara (Italy), since 2000.

Research activity in his laboratories takes inspiration from plant natural products to address problems in various realms of biomedical investigation, from pharmacology and nutrition (new drug leads and health-promoting dietary ingredients) to organic/medicinal chemistry (new synthetic methodologies and optimization of natural product drug leads) and cell biology (novel mechanisms of activity).

Prof. Mark Brönstrup

Professor Mark Brönstrup, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Germany

Mark Brönstrup studied Chemistry at the Philipps-Universität Marburg and at the Imperial College in London. In 1999 he received his doctorate from the Technical University Berlin in Organic Chemistry. After his graduation, he worked from 2000 to 2004 as a laboratory head for Mass Spectrometry at Aventis, complemented by a research sabbatical in 2003 at Harvard Medical School. From 2005 to 2010 he led the Natural Product Sciences section at Sanofi-Aventis in Frankfurt with the goal of discovering leads from natural sources and optimising them to clinical candidates. He dealt with translational research projects from 2010 to 2013 as a section head for Biomarkers & Diagnostics in the Diabetes Division, and a domain head for Biomarkers, Bioimaging & Biological Assays at Sanofi. Since December 2013, he heads the department Chemical Biology at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research; additionally, he holds a Professorship (W3) at the Leibniz Universität Hannover.

Mark Brönstrup’s research uses chemical biology tools to understand mechanisms for the treatment of infectious diseases.

Professors Appendino and Brönstrup began their roles as Editorial Board members from January 2015, and we look forward to working closely with them over the coming months and years.

We are very pleased to welcome two new members to our Editorial Board this month: Professor Julia Kubanek (Georgia Institute of Technology, USA) and Professor Wen Liu (Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, China).

Professor Julia Kubanek

Prof. Kubanek received her Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry in 1998 from the University of British Columbia. Following this she held postdoctoral positions at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University California San Diego (1998–2000) and the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (2000–2001). In 2001 she joined the Georgia Institute of Technology becoming a Professor in 2011.

Her current areas of interest include:

Aquatic chemical ecology; Chemical signaling; Chemical communication; Marine natural products chemistry; Chemical biology; Secondary metabolism; Drug discovery; Plankton ecology; Metabolomics

“I’ve been reading Natural Product Reports since I was a graduate student in the early 1990’s. I’m pleased to join the NPR family as a member of the Editorial Board and looking forward to working with authors to bring important research to the attention of the natural products chemistry community.” Prof. Julia Kubanek

Professor Wen Liu

Prof. Wen Liu obtained his Ph.D. degree from the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (Peking Union Medical School) in 2000. After postdoctoral studies at the Department of Chemistry, University of California, Davis (2000-2001), and the School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison (2001-2003), he joined the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2003.

His research interests focus on:
1) natural product biosynthesis (genetics, biochemistry and chemistry)
2) combinatorial biosynthesis for production improvement and structural diversity
3) genome and/or transcriptome mining for discovery of novel microbial natural products