Pharmacophore Perception, Development, and Use in Drug Design

In the early 1900s, Paul Ehrlich first defined pharmacophores as molecule frameworks that carry the essential features responsible for a drug's biological activity, and the modern definition is little changed. The 27 studies here begin by tracing the evolution of the concept in pharmaceutical research, then cover analog-based and receptor-based varieties, new algorithms, and the future of research. Among the specific topics: pharmacophores based on multiple common-feature alignments; modeling programs including HypoGen, DISCO, Catalyst, HipHop, GASP, Chem-X, Apex-3D, CoMFA; pharmacophore-based molecular docking, a technique for developing a pharmacophore model that accommodates inherent protein flexibility; and the effect of variable weights and tolerances on predictive model generation. Books in Print lists only one other book on the topic of pharmacophores. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR