Ricerc@Sapienza

Novel diterpenoids were isolated from the extracts of Fabiana densa var. ramulosa and found to display a selective activity against Gram-positive bacterial strains with negligible cytotoxicity toward human keratinocytes. This study highlighted the role played by the acidic group at C18 of the tetracyclic ent-beyerene scaffold for antibacterial effects and how the length and flexibility of the alkyl chain between the two carbonyl groups are crucial factors to increase the antimicrobial activity of the molecules, supporting the development of natural products from F.

Staphylococcus aureus is a major human pathogen causing a wide range of nosocomial infections including pulmonary, urinary, and skin infections. Notably, the emergence of bacterial strains resistant to conventional antibiotics has prompted researchers to find new compounds capable of killing these pathogens. Nature is undoubtedly an invaluable source of bioactive molecules characterized by an ample chemical diversity. They can act as unique platform providing new scaffolds for further chemical modifications in order to obtain compounds with optimized biological activity.

The discovery of antibiotics has revolutionized the medicine and treatment of microbial
infections. However, the current scenario has highlighted the difficulties in marketing new
antibiotics and an exponential increase in the appearance of resistant strains. On the other hand,
research in the field of drug-discovery has revaluated the potential of natural products as a unique
source for new biologically active molecules and scaffolds for the medicinal chemistry. In this