Natural indole‐containing alkaloids and their antibacterial activities

• Published in: Archiv der Pharmazie (Weinheim) 2020-10, Vol.353 (10), p.e2000120-n/a
• Main Authors: Liu, Yang, Cui, Ying, Lu, Liyan, Gong, Yufeng, Han, Wen, Piao, Guishun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: alkaloids; antibacterial; bisindole; Drug resistance; indole; Kinases; structure–activity relationships
• ISSN: 0365-6233; 1521-4184
• DOI: 10.1002/ardp.202000120

As the growth in resistance to bacterial infection treatments poses a grave threat to global health in the 21st century, there is a constant need to explore novel antibacterial agents that have the ability to overcome drug resistance. Indole‐containing alkaloids are widely distributed in nature, and a variety of indole‐containing alkaloids have already been applied in clinical practice, proving that indole‐containing alkaloids are fascinating and privileged scaffolds for the development of novel drugs. Moreover, indole‐containing alkaloids could exert their antibacterial activity through the inhibition of efflux pumps, the biofilm, filamentous temperature‐sensitive protein Z, and methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus pyruvate kinase; so, indole‐containing alkaloids constitute an important source of novel antibacterial agents. This review is an endeavor to highlight the advances in the development of indole‐containing alkaloids with antibacterial potential, covering articles published in the recent 10 years. Indole‐containing alkaloids are widely distributed in nature, and a variety of indole‐containing alkaloids have already been applied in clinical practice. This review gives an overview of the advances in the development of indole alkaloids with antibacterial potential in the recent 10 years.