Cover Picture: Phloroglucinol Derivatives Guttiferone G, Aristoforin, and Hyperforin: Inhibitors of Human Sirtuins SIRT1 and SIRT2 (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 27/2007)

• Published in: Angewandte Chemie International Edition Vol. 46; no. 27; p. 5033
• Main Authors: Gey, Claudia, Kyrylenko, Sergiy, Hennig, Lothar, Nguyen, Lien-Hoa D., Büttner, Anita, Pham, Hung D., Giannis, Athanassios
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Weinheim WILEY-VCH Verlag 02-07-2007; WILEY‐VCH Verlag
• Subjects: enzymes; epigenetics; inhibitors; natural products
• ISSN: 1433-7851; 1521-3773
• DOI: 10.1002/anie.200790122

Hippocrates (the father of medicine) described the healing properties of St. John's wort 2500 years ago and prescribed it for the treatment of depression. Hyperforin, which is considered to be responsible for this activity, also has anticancer, antibacterial, and wound‐healing activity. A. Giannis et al. describe in their Communication on page 5219 ff. that hyperforin and two related compounds are inhibitors of sirtuins SIRT1 and SIRT2. This property could explain some of the pharmacological properties of hyperforin.