Category: Structure-Based Design

For those with a basic knowledge of chemistry, we delve into the techniques researchers use to develop the next big ‘blockbuster’ compound.

ligand docked in protein crystal structure
Structure-Based Design

Molecular Docking: Bioinformatics in Drug Discovery

Ever heard of the term bioinformatics? It’s an interdisciplinary field of science that combines different topics such as biology, computer science, mathematics and statistics. In a world where data is being generated at a faster rate than we can process, bioinformatics is used to analyze massive amounts of data and make sense of it all. We take a look at how bioinformatics is making a huge impact in drug discovery and design, by focusing on the field of molecular docking in virtual screening of compounds.

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Structure-Based Design

Cytochrome P450 Enzymes: Meet the (Super)family

Metabolism is described as the series of chemical reactions required to sustain life, and when it comes to drug metabolism no one does it better than the cytochrome P450 family of enzymes. Understanding of key enzymes within this superfamily – such as CYP2D6, CYP2C9 and CYP3A4 – is an important part of drug design. Were you expecting The Incredibles? Sorry, not that super family, but still super nonetheless!

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Structure-Based Design

New Approaches to Peptide-Based Drugs

Pharmaceutical AbbVie’s Humira for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis recorded sales of USD 16 billion in 2016 alone. As the pharmaceutical industry as a whole looks beyond small molecules to biologicals as therapeutics, there has been increasing interest and investment in research in the biotech sector. In this post a new approach to synthesizing small peptides is outlined, featuring an abstract written by a chemist doing active research in this area. Exciting Stuff!

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