Bioengineering of Antiinflammatory Natural Products.

Inflammatory processes occur as generic response of the immune system and can be triggered by various factors, e.g. infection with pathogenic microorganisms or damaged tissue. Due to the complexity of the inflammation process and its role in common diseases, as asthma, cancer, skin disorders or Alzheimer, antiinflammatory drugs are of high pharmaceutical interest. Nature is a rich source for compounds with antiinflammatory properties. Several studies focused on the structural optimization of natural products to improve their pharmacological properties. As derivatization through total synthesis is often laborious with low yields and limited stereoselectivity, the use of biosynthetic, i.e. enzyme-driven reactions is an attractive alternative for synthesizing and modifying complex bioactive molecules. In this minireview, we present an outline of biotechnological methods used for the derivatization of antiinflammatory natural products, including precursor-directed biosynthesis, mutasynthesis, combinatorial biosynthesis, as well as whole cell and in vitro biotransformation.