The discovery of the didemnin family of marine depsipeptides launched an exciting and intriguing chapter in natural product chemistry. The unusual structure of the didemnin congeners has led to several total syntheses by research groups from around the world. The impressive in vitro and in vivo biological activities of the didemnins resulted in the first human clinical trials in the U.S. of a marine natural product against cancer, and additional clinical trials of a second-generation didemnin, dehydrodidemnin B (aplidine), are underway. As we mark the 20-year anniversary of the discovery of the didemnins, this class of natural products continues to stimulate active research in fields ranging from synthetic and medicinal chemistry to clinical oncology and cell biology. While some progress was made in dissecting the molecular mechanism of action and in establishing structure-activity relationships, there are still more questions than answers. This review covers the recent didemnin literature, highlighting the work directed towards understanding how this group of natural products interact with fundamental processes such as cell proliferation, protein biosynthesis, and apoptosis. The didemnin field illustrates how natural product chemistry may be used as a critical tool for the study of cell biology.

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天然产物作为细胞生物学的探针：迪地美宁研究20年。

海洋二肽的双美因素家族的发现开启了天然产物化学中激动人心的一章。迪地美宁同源物的不寻常结构导致来自世界各地的研究小组进行了几项全面的合成。双氢蝶呤具有令人印象深刻的体外和体内生物活性，导致了美国第一项海洋天然产物抗癌的人类临床试验，第二代双氢蝶呤，脱氢双侧蛋白B（阿普立定）的其他临床试验正在进行中。在我们纪念二叠肌精诞生20周年之际，这类天然产物继续刺激从合成化学和药物化学到临床肿瘤学和细胞生物学等领域的活跃研究。尽管在剖析作用的分子机理和建立构效关系方面取得了一些进展，但问题多于答案。这篇综述涵盖了最近的迪地美宁文献，重点介绍了旨在了解这一类天然产物如何与细胞增殖，蛋白质生物合成和细胞凋亡等基本过程相互作用的工作。Didemnin领域说明了如何将天然产物化学用作细胞生物学研究的关键工具。和凋亡。Didemnin领域说明了如何将天然产物化学用作细胞生物学研究的关键工具。和凋亡。Didemnin领域说明了如何将天然产物化学用作细胞生物学研究的关键工具。