{"id":3532,"date":"2016-07-15T10:55:18","date_gmt":"2016-07-15T17:55:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/?p=3532"},"modified":"2016-07-15T14:09:29","modified_gmt":"2016-07-15T21:09:29","slug":"taking-inspiration-nature-anti-cancer-compounds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/2016\/07\/taking-inspiration-nature-anti-cancer-compounds\/","title":{"rendered":"Taking inspiration from nature for anti-cancer compounds"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Isomandelalide

Isomandelalide will be a huge asset for studying disease, specifically cancer, and its impact on human health.<\/p><\/div>\n

A team of chemists have discovered a cytotoxic ring-expanded isomer by enantioselectively synthesizing mandelalide A and isomandelalide A. Or, as Chemistry Department Chair Rich Carter puts it: \u201cWe take inspiration from nature, then through a lot of perspiration, we make chemical compounds to better understand the biology.\u201d<\/p>\n

In this case, <\/span>Carter\u2019s team discovered how to create isomandelalide, enabling scientists to study the biology they can\u2019t understand from the natural-occurring, but scant compound mandelalide, which allows scientists to perform preliminary evaluation of biological properties. Isomandelalide is more stable and has comparable biological properties, a huge asset for scientists <\/span>studying disease, specifically cancer, and its impact on human health. Specifically, collaborator and OSU pharmacy professor Jane Ishmael found that the cytotoxic effects of the compounds were effective in treating human cancer cells, especially lung cancer and types of malignancies in embryos.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a why-science-is-fascinating note, OSU pharmacy professor Kerry McPhail was able to isolate a series of novel macrolides from off the coast of South Africa in 2012. The compounds were named \u201cmandelalides,\u201d in honor of Nelson Mandela. Carter and his team of organic chemists make compounds while their collaborators in the College of Pharmacy figure out the biology, explains Carter. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cIn science, we are always trying to make more of what nature gives us,\u201d said Carter. \u201cWe always want to know more.We work to close the gap between isolation chemicals created in our lab and chemical compounds that could be a viable commercial product for pharmaceutical companies.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Carter\u2019s lab focuses on the total synthesis of complex, biological, active natural products. The researchers study natural products that satisfy two common parameters: 1) the target must inspire them to come up with innovative methods for its construction, and 2) the target must contain a broader scientific question or topic that engages scientists from other areas. <\/span><\/p>\n

C.S. Lewis wrote in his 1955 novel The Magician\u2019s Nephew<\/i>: \u201cOne moment there had been nothing but darkness; next moment a thousand, thousand points of light leaped out.\u201d Such is science.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve come so far since the 1970s when scientists searched for \u2018the cure\u2019 to cancer,\u201d said Carter. \u201cThe cure for cancer will be 1,000 points of light<\/span>\u2014finding the best treatment for a specific disease to increase human longevity.<\/span>“<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The findings<\/a>, \u201cEnantioselective Total Synthesis of Mandelalide A and Isomandelalide A: Discovery of a Cytotoxic Ring-Expanded Isomer, were recently published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A team of chemists discovered how to create isomandelalide, a synthetic, stable compound which is a huge asset for scientists studying disease.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5667,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[712346,640793,1507,523,1168294],"tags":[1733],"class_list":["post-3532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biohealth-science","category-ch","category-faculty-and-staff","category-research","category-spring-2016","tag-healthy-people"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6vHeb-UY","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":97,"url":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/2014\/11\/discover\/","url_meta":{"origin":3532,"position":0},"title":"Discover","author":"Sharon","date":"November 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