This book is a collection of original research articles in the field of computer-aided drug design. It reports the use of current and validated computational approaches applied to drug discovery as well as the development of new computational tools to identify new and more potent drugs.

This title covers a wide range of topics relevant to the development of drugs. It provides a comprehensive description of the major methodological strategies available for rational drug discovery.

Helps you choose the right computational tools and techniques to meet your drug design goals Computational Drug Design covers all of the major computational drug design techniques in use today, focusing on the process that pharmaceutical chemists employ to design a new drug molecule. The discussions of which computational tools to use and when and how to use them are all based on typical pharmaceutical industry drug design processes. Following an introduction, the book is divided into three parts: Part One, The Drug Design Process, sets forth a variety of design processes suitable for a number of different drug development scenarios and drug targets. The author demonstrates how computational techniques are typically used during the design process, helping readers choose the best computational tools to meet their goals. Part Two, Computational Tools and Techniques, offers a series of chapters, each one dedicated to a single computational technique. Readers discover the strengths and weaknesses of each technique. Moreover, the book tabulates comparative accuracy studies, giving readers an unbiased comparison of all the available techniques. Part Three, Related Topics, addresses new, emerging, and complementary technologies, including bioinformatics, simulations at the cellular and organ level, synthesis route prediction, proteomics, and prodrug approaches. The book's accompanying CD-ROM, a special feature, offers graphics of the molecular structures and dynamic reactions discussed in the book as well as demos from computational drug design software companies. Computational Drug Design is ideal for both students and professionals in drug design, helping them choose and take full advantage of the best computational tools available. Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

Computational biology drives discovery through its use of high-throughput informatics approaches. This book provides a road map of the current drug development process and how computational biology approaches play a critical role across the entire drug discovery pipeline. Through the use of previously unpublished, real-life case studies the impact of a range of computational approaches are discussed at various phases of the pipeline. Additionally, a focus section provides innovative visualisation approaches, from both the drug discovery process as well as from other fields that utilise large datasets, recognising the increasing use of such technology. Serving the needs of early career and more experienced scientists, this up-to-date reference provides an essential introduction to the process and background of drug discovery, highlighting how computational researchers can contribute to that pipeline.

This handbook provides the first-ever inside view of today's integrated approach to rational drug design. Chemoinformatics experts from large pharmaceutical companies, as well as from chemoinformatics service providers and from academia demonstrate what can be achieved today by harnessing the power of computational methods for the drug discovery process. With the user rather than the developer of chemoinformatics software in mind, this book describes the successful application of computational tools to real-life problems and presents solution strategies to commonly encountered problems. It shows how almost every step of the drug discovery pipeline can be optimized and accelerated by using chemoinformatics tools -- from the management of compound databases to targeted combinatorial synthesis, virtual screening and efficient hit-to-lead transition. An invaluable resource for drug developers and medicinal chemists in academia and industry.

This book presents various computer-aided drug discovery methods for the design and development of ligand and structure-based drug molecules. A wide variety of computational approaches are now being used in various stages of drug discovery and development, as well as in clinical studies. Yet, despite the rapid advances in computer software and hardware, combined with the exponential growth in the available biological information, there are many challenges that still need to be addressed, as this book shows. In turn, it shares valuable insights into receptor-ligand interactions in connection with various biological functions and human diseases. The book discusses a wide range of phylogenetic methods and highlights the applications of Molecular Dynamics Simulation in the drug discovery process. It also explores the application of quantum mechanics in order to provide better accuracy when calculating protein-ligand binding interactions and predicting binding affinities. In closing, the book provides illustrative descriptions of major challenges associated with computer-aided drug discovery for the development of therapeutic drugs. Given its scope, it offers a valuable asset for life sciences researchers, medicinal chemists and bioinformaticians looking for the latest information on computer-aided methodologies for drug development, together with their applications in drug discovery.

Due to the rapid and steady growth of available low-cost computer power, the use of computers for discovering and designing new drugs is becoming a central topic in modern molecular biology and medicinal chemistry. In Computational Drug Discovery and Design: Methods and Protocols expert researchers in the field provide key techniques to investigate biomedical applications for drug developments based on computational chemistry. These include methods and techniques from binding sites prediction to the accurate inclusion of solvent and entropic effects, from high-throughput screening of large compound databases to the expanding area of protein-protein inhibition, toward quantitative free-energy approaches in ensemble-based drug design using distributed computing. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular BiologyTM series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, reference to software and open source analysis tools, step-by-step, readily reproducible computational protocols, and key tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Thorough and intuitive, Computational Drug Discovery and Design: Methods and Protocols aids scientists in the continuing study of state-of-the-art concepts and computer-based methodologies.