Biotechnological pharmaceuticals protein structure

Almost all products of modern pharmaceutical biotechnology, be they on the market or likely to gain approval in the short to intermediate term, are protein based. As such, an understanding of protein structure is central to this topic. A comprehensive treatment of the subject would easily constitute a book on its own, and many such publications are available. The aim of this chapter is to provide a basic overview of the subject in order to equip the reader with a knowledge of protein science sufficient to understand relevant concepts outlined in the remaining chapters of this book. The interested reader is also referred to the Further reading section, which lists several excellent specialist publications in the field. Much additional information may also be sourced via the web sites mentioned within the chapter. 

Wishart, D. 2005. NMR spectroscopy and protein structure determination applications to drug discovery and development. Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology 6(2), 105-120. 

Kenney. W.C., Arakawa. T. (1997). Biophysical and biochemical analyses of recombinant proteins Structure and analyses of proteins. In Crommelin D.J.A., Sindelar R.D., eds., Pharmaceutical Biotechnology. Harwood Academic Publishers, Amsterdam, 27-51. 

Beyond nucleic acids, prediction of protein structure is becoming a major effort for drug hunters in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. There are a series of links to research into protein folding from various academic groups as shown in Table 11.4. 

Kersten G F, Westdijk J (2005). Immunoassays. In W Jiskoot and D J A Crommelin (eds.), Methods for Structural Analysis of Protein Pharmaeuticals, Vol. Ill, Biotechnology Pharmaceutical Aspects, AAPS Press, Arlington, V.A., pp. 501-526. 

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