Bioactive peptide natural compounds in chemical biology

Peptide natural products are structurally related small molecules which occur in nature and display broad biological activity. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute in Dortmund focused on thiopeptides and on chondramide C, potent antibiotics and an F-actin addressing cytostatic. Progress in elucidating their molecular mode of action, in designing derived fluorescent probes and in access by chemical synthesis is reported.