Substantial efforts are under way in our laboratories on the chemical synthesis and elucidation of the mechanism of action of these compounds as a first step toward understanding and controlling these phenomena. Cancer continues to be a major killer, second only to heart disease. New chemotherapeutic agents are in demand, particularly to combat drug-resistant types of cancer. Our efforts in this area include programs for the total synthesis of taxoids, enediynes, epothilones A and B, eleutherobin, and the sarcodictyins. Heart disease in humans has been convincingly linked to serum cholesterol levels, and cholesterol-lowering drugs are therefore of great value for maintaining normal health.
Antibiotic resistance is a serious threat to human health, and new antibiotics are urgently needed.
Vancomycin, teicoplanin, and everninomicin are such compounds for which chemical synthesis is progressing in our laboratories. These research programs are expected to have an important impact on biology and medicine. I 1 effectively suppresses growth and dissemination of liver metastases in a syngeneic model of murine neuroblastoma. N. The chemistry, biology and medicine of the glycopeptide antibiotics. Retrosynthetic analysis, synthesis of amino acid building blocks and strategy evaluations.