Plant-Derived Compounds and Their Potential Role in Drug Development

This article describes how with the development of biotechnology, plants have gained again a prominent place as a relatively inexpensive source for the creation of recombinant pharmaceuticals. Plant-derived compounds have started playing a major role in the pharmaceutical industry with many plant-based products to have found their way in drugs and chemicals used for the treatment of different diseases and their symptoms. Plant-derived compounds have been tested for the treatment of several types of cancer, Central Nervous System disorders, as enhancers during chemotherapy and as vessels for targeted drug delivery. Genetically modified plant cells have been recruited for the production of therapeutic agencies as well as in the creation of expression systems for virus-like particles that could be used as vaccines. Moreover, microRNAs mimicking the plant ones have the ability to inhibit tumors in mammalian cells. This review describes plant-derived compounds and their properties as potential therapeutic agents and precursors for the development of novel drugs in the pharmaceutical industry.