Silvestrol

Silvestrol is a natural product from the flavagline family, with a cyclopenta benzofuran core structure and an unusual dioxane ether side chain, which is found in the bark of trees from the genus Aglaia, especially Aglaia silvestris and Aglaia foveolata.

Bioactivity

It acts as a potent and selective inhibitor of the RNA helicase enzyme eIF4A, and has both broad-spectrum antiviral activity against diseases such as Ebola and coronaviruses, and anti-cancer properties, which makes it of considerable interest in medical research. However, as it cannot be extracted from tree bark in commercial amounts and is prohibitively complex to produce synthetically, practical applications have focused more on structurally simplified analogues such as CR-31-B.