Target Protein-Oriented Natural Product Isolation Methods

Abstract Natural products have a long history of contributing to new drug development. Discovery of bioactive natural products typically involves bioassay-guided fractionation followed by determination of the isolated compound's structure. Recently, target protein–oriented natural product isolation methods have been developed to identify bioactive natural products from extracts of natural resources. In this article, approaches for bioactive product isolation based on affinity to target proteins are described. Trials using affinity chromatography, ligand fishing using protein immobilized beads, ultrafiltration methods, and trials to isolate natural products that disrupt protein-protein interactions are discussed. Target protein–oriented natural product isolation methods promise to be important approaches for isolating bioactive natural products.