Natural products are chemical compounds or substances produced by a living organism that usually have a pharmacological or biological activity for use in drug discovery. Modern clinically useful natural product-derived drugs include aspirin, quinine, Paclitaxel (Taxol®) and Artemisinin. Microorganisms produce a large variety of antimicrobial agents, and marine organisms have proven a rich source of potent chemicals with inflammatory, antiviral, and anticancer activity. Venoms and toxins often specifically interact with a macromolecular target in the body. As a result, they are important tools in studying receptors, ion channels, and enzymes.
Enzo provides a comprehensive collection of over 800 natural products and rare antibiotics for the drug discovery, diagnostics, and life sciences research market.
Medically relevant viral recombinant proteins produced in bacteria, yeast or insect cells seldom undergo correct post-translational modification due to the expression host lacking the same cellular machinery as the natural host. By contrast, proteins produced entirely in human cell lines ensure that the resultant antigens are expressed to a high level, are in their native folded state, and possess all relevant post-translational modifications. This advanced approach offers products which deliver optimal antigenicity for use in vaccine development and serological based diagnostic assays.
Cyanobacterial toxins have shown to be hazardous to humans and animals via direct and indirect routes of exposure such as ingestion of contaminated water, vegetables, fish/shellfish and through practices of irrigation. Microcystins (MCs) are the most commonly encountered cyanotoxins and have received large attention from water, food, wildlife and recreational companies/agencies and programs. The Microcystins produced from Microcystis, Nostoc, Anabaena, Oscillatoria and Planktothrix cyanobacteria are defined by their cyclic hepapeptide structure as well as by the rare amino acids (ADDA or dehydroalanine) that they share. These toxins are potent inhibitors of the eukaryotic protein phosphatase families PP1 and PP2A leading to cell death (apoptosis). Studies have also shown that MCs play a role in liver toxicity and possibly even stimulate the growth of cancer cells following exposure.
