Structure-based design lead generation

Characterisation of the structure and conformation of small biologically active molecules is part of the standard approach to lead generation in drug design studies. In particular, it is now possible to automatically synthesise many thousands of small molecules and then rapidly measure their effects in a given pharmacological test system. The power of such techniques comes from the immense number of compounds which can be generated and screened for activity. Two studies have evaluated HPLC-NMR in the field, one based on a mixture of 27 closely related tripeptides [24] and the other on two separate mixtures of four aromatic compounds and three pentapeptides [25]. 

In general the relevance of predictions of structure-function relationships based on molecular modeling and structural bioinformatics are threefold. First they can be used to answer the question of which partners (proteins) could interact. Second, predictions generate new hypotheses about binding site, about molecular mechanisms of activation and interaction between two partners, and can lead to new ideas for pharmacological intervention. The third aim is to use the predictions for structure-based drug design. 

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