The continued successes of large- and small-scale genome sequencing projects are increasing the number of genomic targets available for drug d- covery at an exponential rate. In addition, a better understanding of molecular mechanisms—such as apoptosis, signal transduction, telomere control of ch- mosomes, cytoskeletal development, modulation of stress-related proteins, and cell surface display of antigens by the major histocompatibility complex m- ecules—has improved the probability of identifying the most promising genomic targets to counteract disease. As a result, developing and optimizing lead candidates for these targets and rapidly moving them into clinical trials is now a critical juncture in pharmaceutical research. Recent advances in com- natorial library synthesis, purification, and analysis techniques are not only increasing the numbers of compounds that can be tested against each specific genomic target, but are also speeding and improving the overall processes of lead discovery and optimization. There are two main approaches to combinatorial library production: p- allel chemical synthesis and split-and-mix chemical synthesis. These approaches can utilize solid- or solution-based synthetic methods, alone or in combination, although the majority of combinatorial library synthesis is still done on solid support. In a parallel synthesis, all the products are assembled separately in their own reaction vessels or microtiter plates. The array of rows and columns enables researchers to organize the building blocks to be c- bined, and provides an easy way to identify compounds in a particular well.

Research in the pharmaceutical industry today is in many respects quite different from what it used to be only fifteen years ago. There have been dramatic changes in approaches for identifying new chemical entities with a desired biological activity. While chemical modification of existing leads was the most important approach in the 1970s and 1980s, high-throughput screening and structure-based design are now major players among a multitude of methods used in drug discov ery. Quite often, companies favor one of these relatively new approaches over the other, e.g., screening over rational design, or vice versa, but we believe that an intelligent and concerted use of several or all methods currently available to drug discovery will be more successful in the medium term. What has changed most significantly in the past few years is the time available for identifying new chemical entities. Because of the high costs of drug discovery projects, pressure for maximum success in the shortest possible time is higher than ever. In addition, the multidisciplinary character of the field is much more pronounced today than it used to be. As a consequence, researchers and project managers in the pharmaceutical industry should have a solid knowledge of the more important methods available to drug discovery, because it is the rapidly and intelligently combined use of these which will determine the success or failure of preclinical projects.

This text traces developments in rational drug discovery and combinatorial library design with contributions from 50 leading scientists in academia and industry who offer coverage of basic principles, design strategies, methodologies, software tools and algorithms, and applications. It outlines the fundamentals of pharmacophore modelling and 3D Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationships (QSAR), classical QSAR, and target protein structure-based design methods.

This book addresses the various classes of privileged scaffolds and covers the history of their discovery and use.

With the explosion of combinatorial solid-phase methods, access to information has become one of the main barriers facing a synthetic chemist who is contemplating a combinatorial approach to a medicinal chemistry problem. The Combinatorial Index is an answer to that problem. This compendium of methods from the primary literature provides quick and convenient access to reliable synthetic transformations as well as information on linkers and analytical methods. Each synthetic procedure is preceded by a section entitled"Points of Interest,"which highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the various studies. The index also covers the use of solution-based synthesis for the generation of molecular diversity. - Organized for rapid retrieval of published information on classes of synthetic transformations, linkers, and analytical methods - Serves as a laboratory manual for bench chemists - Includes a chapter on linkers to assist in choice of linking strategy - Discusses strengths and limitations of the various methods - Contains a structural index showing functional group transformations in solid-phase synthesis

Introducing the most recent advances in crystallography, nuclear magnetic resonance, molecular modeling techniques, and computational combinatorial chemistry, this unique, interdisciplinary reference explains the application of three-dimensional structural information in the design of pharmaceutical drugs. Furnishing authoritative analyses by world-renowned experts, Structure-Based Drug Design discusses protein structure-based design in optimizing HIV protease inhibitors and details the biochemical, genetic, and clinical data on HIV-1 reverse transcriptase presents recent results on the high-resolution three-dimensional structure of the catalytic core domain of HIV-1 integrase as a foundation for divergent combination therapy focuses on structure-based design strategies for uncovering receptor antagonists to treat inflammatory diseases demonstrates a systematic approach to the design of inhibitory compounds in cancer treatment reviews current knowledge on the Interleukin-1 (IL-1) system and progress in the development of IL-1 modulators describes the influence of structure-based methods in designing capsid-binding inhibitors for relief of the common cold and much more!

This book is an overview of current progress in drug design. It focuses on energetics of drug interactions with solvents and biomolecules, applications of traditional drug design methods, and related evolutionary algorithms.