Natural Products from the Poles: Structural Diversity and Biological Activities

Author(s)

dos Santos, Gustavo Souza ^[1] ; Teixeira, Thaiz Rodrigues ^[1] ; Colepicolo, Pio ^[2] ; Debonsi, Hosana Maria ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Fac Ciencias Farmaceut Ribeirao Preto, Dept Ciencias BioMol, Ribeirao Preto, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Quim, Dept Bioquim, Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Review article
• Source: REVISTA BRASILEIRA DE FARMACOGNOSIA-BRAZILIAN JOURNAL OF PHARMACOGNOSY; v. 31, n. 5, p. 531-560, OCT 2021.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

Natural products represent a promising strategy for the discovery of new drug leads. Despite the effort of industry and academia, the investigations of natural products are concentrated in tropical and sub-tropical areas. Polar regions, such as the Arctic and Antarctica, are the most extreme and isolated environments on earth. Indeed, their severe climate conditions include low temperatures, high ultraviolet radiation, freeze-thaw cycles, and strong winds. These regions harbor a rich and underexplored biodiversity with immeasurable aggregate biotechnological potential. To survive on the poles, organisms have evolved and acquired different strategies including distinctive biological machineries, leading to the production of a unique and diverse array of organic molecules which can be used as prototypes for the development of new therapeutic agents. In this review, we summarize the occurrence of secondary metabolites from the Arctic and Antarctic organisms as well as their bioactivity from 2018 to 2020. Besides, we illustrate the collection sites and countries contributions to the field of polar natural products. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 14/50926-0 - INCT 2014: biodiversity and natural products
• Grantee: Vanderlan da Silva Bolzani
• Support Opportunities: BIOTA-FAPESP Program - Thematic Grants