ABSTRACT The name dalbaheptides was suggested to define those glycopeptide antibiotics of the vancomycin-ristocetin family whose unique stereostructure, enabling them to bind bacterial cell wall precursors that terminate with D-alanyl-D-alanine, functionally defines their mechanism of action. Vancomycin and ristocetin were discovered in the 1950`s, and since then large number of new natural dalbaheptides have been described. Among them, teicoplanin recently joined vancomycin in clinical use for the treatment of Gram-positive pathogens refractory to established drugs. The knowledge of the relationship between the physicochemical and biological characteristics of vancomycin and teicoplanin stimulated a huge activity of chemical modification of these and other dalbaheptides. This article gives an overview of the chemistry, antibacterial activity, mechanism of action and pharmacokinetics of selected dalbaheptides to introduce the review of structural modifications of many of them and relationships with their biological activity. A short synopses of recent research on total synthesis of vancomycin is presented. The preparation from natural dalbaheptides of fragments that are proposed as “building blocks“ for the synthesis of new “non-natural“ dalbaheptides is also given.
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