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Abstract

Most small molecules that were approved as anticancer drugs by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) between 1981 and 2014 were derivatives of natural products (NPs) [1].The most common approach for manufacturers to produce these molecules is by semi-or full synthesis. Despite the high efficiency and amenability to scale-up, (semi)synthesis often suffers from producing fractions of unwanted stereo-or regio-specific isomers, particularly if blocking agents are not used, which can be costly and/or environmentally unfriendly. By contrast, enzymes can serve as regiospecific biocatalysts that maintain stereochemistry. With genetic engineering, enzymes can be expressed in heterologous hosts such as yeast or bacteria that have high expression potential, and can catalyze reactions using small molecule substrates fed This work was supported by WVU start-up funds to NK and was based upon work that is supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Hatch, accession number 1010200, and the West Virginia Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station project WVA00687. Conflicts of InterestNo conflicts of interest.