DNA Related Enzymes as Molecular Targets for Antiviral and Antitumoral Chemotherapy. A Natural Overview of the Current Perspectives.

Background: The discovery of new chemotherapeutic agents still remains a continuous goal to achieve. DNA polymerases and topoisomerases act in nucleic acids metabolism modulating different processes like replication, mitosis, damage repair, DNA topology and transcription. It has been widely documented that Polymerases serve as molecular targets for antiviral and antitumoral chemotherapy.

A new iridoid, verbascoside and derivatives with inhibitory activity against Taq DNA polymerase.

DNA polymerases are enzymes that play a crucial role in DNA metabolism such as replication, repair, transcription, recombination, and chromosome segregation during mitosis. Herein we report the isolation of a new iridoid (6-epi-catalpol, 2) and per-O-acetyl-verbascoside (11) from aerial part of Buddleja cordobensis Grisebach (Buddlejaceae). From compound 2, we have obtained eight compounds by chemical transformation.

Inhibition of reverse transcriptase and Taq DNA polymerase by compounds possessing the coumarin framework.

Coumarin derivatives were prepared using natural products isolated from plants belonging in the Pterocaulon genus (Asteraceae) and commercial drugs. Some molecules have displayed interesting activity against myeloid murine leukemia virus-reverse transcriptase (MMLV-RT) (compounds 20 and 28 produced inhibition with IC50 values of 38.62 and 50.