A Trp down a biosynthetic pathway

Abstract

Natural-products chemistry has revealed an impressive array of chemical structures synthesized by diverse organisms. Because of their potential as therapeutic agents for cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, indolocarbazole alkaloids have attracted recent attention. A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by Sanchez et al. has provided new insights into the biosynthesis of the two indolocarbazoles rebeccamycin and staurosporine. In a related paper, published in the same journal by Yeh et al., the mechanism of tryptophan chlorination, the first step in rebeccamycin biosynthesis, was examined.