Commercial Aspects of Drug Discovery [2014-2015] [SEM 2]

High Throughput Drug Discovery [2014-2015] [SEM 2]

Modelling Metabolic Pathways [2014-2015] [SEM 2]

All cells rely on a complex interacting network of numerous metabolic pathways.  Each pathway in turn requires the concerted and well-regulated action of a team of enzymes.  These pathways with their component enzymes frequently make attractive drug targets.  Metabolic pathways in the parasitic protest Trypanosoma brucei (the causative agent of African sleeping sickness) will be used to illustrate how a combination of biochemical, genetic, control analysis and computer simulation approaches can be used to obtain useful working models of these pathways.

 

 

Systems Approach to Modelling Cell Signal Transduction [2014-2015] [SEM 2]

Systems approach to modelling cell signal transduction

A major hope of the human genome project was that a fuller understanding of the genes associated with disease states would lead to a more rapid production of new lead compounds. In fact we also have to include the knowledge of how the biological organism responds to drugs. An aim of systems biology is to describe and understand the operation of complex biological systems. Current models can still only describe relatively simple systems, however the techniques associated with systems biology give useful insights to the drug discovery process.