Molecular biology drug action

Strange P (1998). Pathology and drug action in schizophrenia. In SJ Higgins (ed.), Molecular Biology of the Brain (Essays in Biochemistry No. 33, pp. 105-116). Portland Press, London. 

Elucidation of the mechanism of action for virtually all biologically active substances has been a collaborative effort between scientists in a variety of disciplines. In the area of drug research, medicinal chemists have played important roles by providing series of homologs and congeners of prototype compounds. The development of potency series, where the in vivo action can be correlated with in vitro or biochemical effects, has often played a pivotal role in formulating hypotheses about mechanism of drug action at the molecular level. 

Despite the many decades amyl nitrite and glyceryl trinitrate have been used in therapy, it is only in recent years that the molecular mechanism of action of the nitrovasodilators has begun to be understood [3-5]. The drugs act by releasing nitric oxide (NO, a neutral radical usually written simply as NO), which produces smooth muscle relaxation in blood vessels and exhibits a range of other biological effects [6]. Thus, bioactivation to yield NO precedes the main therapeutic effect of nitrovasodilators and would justify their classifica-... 

As shown in Fig. 1.1, the integration of pharmacogenomics and systems biology can help elucidate the mechanisms of diseases and drug actions at various levels and connect information between different levels. For example, altered genetic structure may cause malfunctions at the molecular level, which would influence the downstream interactions, pathways, and networks at the cellular level. Such changes may then lead to tissue or organ disorders that are disease phenotypes reflected as... 

Wood MA, Bierer BE. Rapamycin biological and therapeutic effects, binding by immunophilins and molecular targets of action. Perspect Drug Discov Design 1994 2 163-184. 

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