This book focuses on recent developments in docking simulations for target proteins with chapters on specific techniques or applications for docking simulations, including the major docking programs. Additionally, the volume explores the scoring functions developed for the analysis of docking results and to predict ligand-binding affinity as well as the importance of docking simulations for the initial stages of drug discovery. Written for the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series, this collection presents the kind of detail and key implementation advice to ensure successful results. Authoritative and practical, Docking Screens for Drug Discovery aims to serve those interested in molecular docking simulation and also in the application of these methodologies for drug discovery.

Virtual screening can reduce costs and increase hit rates for lead discovery by eliminating the need for robotics, reagent acquisition or production, and compound storage facilities. The increased robustness of computational algorithms and scoring functions, the availability of affordable computational power, and the potential for timely structural

The process of drug discovery and development is a complex multistage logistics project spanned over 10-15 years with an average budget exceeding 1 billion USD. Starting with target identification and synthesizing anywhere between 10k to 15k synthetic compounds to potentially obtain the final drug that reaches the market involves a complicated maze with multiple inter- and intra-operative fields. Topics described in this book emphasize the progresses in computational applications, pharmacokinetics advances, and molecular modeling developments. In addition the book also contains special topics describing target deorphaning in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, therapy treatment of some rare diseases, and developments in the pediatric drug discovery process.

The last decade has seen the confluence of several enabling technologies that have allowed protein crystallographic methods to live up to their true potential. Taken together, the numerous recent advances have made it possible to tackle difficult biological targets with a high probability of success: intact bacterial ribosomes have been structurally elucidated, as well as eukaryotic trans-membrane proteins like the potassium channel and GPCRs. It is now possible for medicinal chemists to have access to structural information on their latest small molecule candidates bound to the therapeutic target within days of compound synthesis, allowing structure guided ligand optimization to occur in "real time". Structure-Based Drug Discovery presents an array of methods used to generate crystal structures of biological macromolecules, how to leverage the structural information to design novel ligands anew, and how to iteratively optimize hits and convert them to leads. Written in the successful Methods in Molecular BiologyTM series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible protocols, and notes on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and easily accessible, Structure-Based Drug Discovery aims to provide scientists interested in adding SBDD to their arsenal of drug discovery methods with well-honed, up-to-date methodologies.

Molecular docking has always been and will be on the forefront of developments in the eminent field of drug design and medicinal chemistry. At the early days, drug discovery was based on blackboard drawings and expert intuition. However, as times move on, the amount of available information and overall knowledge base that needs to be analyzed cannot be processed manually. This, coupled by the rapid growth in computational infrastructure and processing power, has allowed for the efficient use of molecular docking tools and algorithms to be considered in the greater field of drug discovery. In the postgenomic era, molecular docking has become the key player for the screening of hundreds of thousands of compounds against a repertoire of pharmacological targets.

Small Molecule Drug Discovery: Methods, Molecules and Applications presents the methods used to identify bioactive small molecules, synthetic strategies and techniques to produce novel chemical entities and small molecule libraries, chemoinformatics to characterize and enumerate chemical libraries, and screening methods, including biophysical techniques, virtual screening and phenotypic screening. The second part of the book gives an overview of privileged cyclic small molecules and major classes of natural product-derived small molecules, including carbohydrate-derived compounds, peptides and peptidomimetics, and alkaloid-inspired compounds. The last section comprises an exciting collection of selected case studies on drug discovery enabled by small molecules in the fields of cancer research, CNS diseases and infectious diseases. The discovery of novel molecular entities capable of specific interactions represents a significant challenge in early drug discovery. Small molecules are low molecular weight organic compounds that include natural products and metabolites, as well as drugs and other xenobiotics. When the biological target is well defined and understood, the rational design of small molecule ligands is possible. Alternatively, small molecule libraries are being used for unbiased assays for complex diseases where a target is unknown or multiple factors contribute to a disease pathology. - Outlines modern concepts and synthetic strategies underlying the building of small molecules and their chemical libraries useful for drug discovery - Provides modern biophysical methods to screening small molecule libraries, including high-throughput screening, small molecule microarrays, phenotypic screening and chemical genetics - Presents the most advanced chemoinformatics tools to characterize the structural features of small molecule libraries in terms of chemical diversity and complexity, also including the application of virtual screening approaches - Gives an overview of structural features and classification of natural product-derived small molecules, including carbohydrate derivatives, peptides and peptidomimetics, and alkaloid-inspired small molecules

This insightful book represents the experience and understanding of the global experts in the field and spotlights both the structural and medicinal chemistry aspects of drug design. The need to 'encode' the physiological factors of pharmacology, a key area, is explored.

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!

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.

Fragment-based drug discovery is a rapidly evolving area of research, which has recently seen new applications in areas such as epigenetics, GPCRs and the identification of novel allosteric binding pockets. The first fragment-derived drug was recently approved for the treatment of melanoma. It is hoped that this approval is just the beginning of the many drugs yet to be discovered using this fascinating technique. This book is written from a Chemist's perspective and comprehensively assesses the impact of fragment-based drug discovery on a wide variety of areas of medicinal chemistry. It will prove to be an invaluable resource for medicinal chemists working in academia and industry, as well as anyone interested in novel drug discovery techniques.