Macrolides are a class of mostly natural products with a large macrocyclic lactone ring to which one or more deoxy sugars, usually cladinose and desosamine, may be attached. The lactone rings are usually 14-, 15-, or 16-membered. Macrolides belong to the polyketide class of natural products. Some macrolides have antibiotic or antifungal activity and are used as pharmaceutical drugs. Rapamycin is also a macrolide and was originally developed as an antifungal, but has since been used as an immunosuppressant drug and is being investigated as a potential longevity therapeutic.[1]
- ^ Arriola Apelo SI, Lamming DW (July 2016). "apamycin: An InhibiTOR of Aging Emerges From the Soil of Easter Island". J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 71 (7): 841–9. doi:10.1093/gerona/glw090. PMC 4906330. PMID 27208895. Retrieved 17 July 2022.