QSARs structure-activity relationships

The fundamental assumption of SAR and QSAR (Structure-Activity Relationships and Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationships) is that the activity of a compound is related to its structural and/or physicochemical properties. In a classic article Corwin Hansch formulated Eq. (15) as a linear frcc-cncrgy related model for the biological activity (e.g.. toxicity) of a group of congeneric chemicals [37, in which the inverse of C, the concentration effect of the toxicant, is related to a hy-drophobidty term, FI, an electronic term, a (the Hammett substituent constant). Stcric terms can be added to this equation (typically Taft s steric parameter, E,). 

This is the domain of establishing Structure-Property or Structure-Activity Relationships (SPR or SAR), or even of finding such relationships in a quantitative manner (QSPR or QSAR). 

A challenging task in material science as well as in pharmaceutical research is to custom tailor a compound s properties. George S. Hammond stated that the most fundamental and lasting objective of synthesis is not production of new compounds, but production of properties (Norris Award Lecture, 1968). The molecular structure of an organic or inorganic compound determines its properties. Nevertheless, methods for the direct prediction of a compound s properties based on its molecular structure are usually not available (Figure 8-1). Therefore, the establishment of Quantitative Structure-Property Relationships (QSPRs) and Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationships (QSARs) uses an indirect approach in order to tackle this problem. In the first step, numerical descriptors encoding information about the molecular structure are calculated for a set of compounds. Secondly, statistical and artificial neural network models are used to predict the property or activity of interest based on these descriptors or a suitable subset. 

Besides the aforementioned descriptors, grid-based methods are frequently used in the field of QSAR quantitative structure-activity relationships) [50]. A molecule is placed in a box and for an orthogonal grid of points the interaction energy values between this molecule and another small molecule, such as water, are calculated. The grid map thus obtained characterizes the molecular shape, charge distribution, and hydrophobicity. 

Furthermore, QSPR models for the prediction of free-energy based properties that are based on multilinear regression analysis are often referred to as LFER models, especially, in the wide field of quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR). 

B Mohney and L B Kier 1991. The Electrotopological State An Atom Index for QSAR. ntitative Structure-Activity Relationships 10 43-51. 

When the property being described is a physical property, such as the boiling point, this is referred to as a quantitative structure-property relationship (QSPR). When the property being described is a type of biological activity, such as drug activity, this is referred to as a quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR). Our discussion will first address QSPR. All the points covered in the QSPR section are also applicable to QSAR, which is discussed next. 

Practical Applications of Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationships (QSAR) in Environmental Chemistry and Toxicology W. Karcher, J. Devillers, Eds., Kluwer, Dordrecht (1990). 

PW91 (Perdew, Wang 1991) a gradient corrected DFT method QCI (quadratic conhguration interaction) a correlated ah initio method QMC (quantum Monte Carlo) an explicitly correlated ah initio method QM/MM a technique in which orbital-based calculations and molecular mechanics calculations are combined into one calculation QSAR (quantitative structure-activity relationship) a technique for computing chemical properties, particularly as applied to biological activity QSPR (quantitative structure-property relationship) a technique for computing chemical properties... 

Quantitative Structure—Activity Relationships (QSAR). Quantitative Stmcture—Activity Relationships (QSAR) is the name given to a broad spectmm of modeling methods which attempt to relate the biological activities of molecules to specific stmctural features, and do so in a quantitative manner (see Enzyme INHIBITORS). The method has been extensively appHed. The concepts involved in QSAR studies and a brief overview of the methodology and appHcations are given here. 

Quantitative Structure—Activity Relationships. Many quantitative stmcture—activity relationship (QSAR) studies of progestins have appeared in the Hterature and an extensive review of this work is available (174). QSAR studies attempt to correlate electronic, steric, and/or hydrophobic properties to progestational activity or receptor binding affinity. A review focusing on the problems associated with QSAR of steroids has been pubUshed (175). 

The QSAR (quantitative structure-activity relationship) approach has been considered for the identification of toxicants that bind to steroid and aryl... 

GR Marshall, CD Barry, HE Bosshard, RA Dammkoehler, DA Dunn. The conformational parameter m drug design The active analog approach. ACS Symp Ser 112 205-226, 1979. JL Fauchere, ed. QSAR Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationships m Drug Design. New York Alan R Liss, 1989, pp 177-181. 

QSARs (quantitative structure-activity relationships) Relationships between structural parameters of chemicals and their toxicity. 

Bis(oxazohnes) figands have been so widely used for the Diels-Alder reaction between N-2-alkenoyl-l,3-oxazolidine-2-one and cyclopentadiene that Lipkowitz and Pradhan developed a QSAR (quantitative structure-activity relationship) using Comparative Molecular Field Analysis (CoMFA) for a set of 23 copper-catalysts containing mainly bis(oxazoline) figands. The generated... 

With the development of accurate computational methods for generating 3D conformations of chemical structures, QSAR approaches that employ 3D descriptors have been developed to address the problems of 2D QSAR techniques, that is, their inability to distinguish stereoisomers. Examples of 3D QSAR include molecular shape analysis (MSA) [26], distance geometry,and Voronoi techniques [27]. The MSA method utilizes shape descriptors and MLR analysis, whereas the other two approaches apply atomic refractivity as structural descriptor and the solution of mathematical inequalities to obtain the quantitative relationships. These methods have been applied to study structure-activity relationships of many data sets by Hopfinger and Crippen, respectively. Perhaps the most popular example of the 3D QSAR is the com-... 

Martin YC. Distance comparison (DISCO) A new strategy for examining 3D structure-activity relationships. In Hansch C, Fujita T, editors, Classical and 3D QSAR in agrochemistry. Washington, DC American Chemical Society, 1995. p.318-29. 

Gao H, Williams C, Labute P, Bajorath J. Binary quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) analysis of estrogen receptor ligands. / Chem Inf Comput Sci 1999 39 164-8. 

Ekins S, Bravi G, Ring BJ, Gillespie TA, Gillespie JS, VandenBranden M, et al. Three dimensional-quantitative structure activity relationship (3D-QSAR) analyses of substrates for CYP2B6. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 1999 288 21-9. 

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