Medicinal Chemistry and Drug Design

Medicinal Chemistry for Drug Discovery: Significance of Recent Trends reviews the state of the art and aims to determine the significance of technology and market trends in medicinal chemistry for advancing productivity in drug discovery. Although the fundamental task of medicinal chemists has not changed drastically over time, the chemical and computational tools and perspectives at their disposal have advanced significantly. One in particular, fragment-based drug design, stands out as promising major improvements in research productivity. We examine medicinal chemistry-related approaches and methodologies that drug discovery organizations employ in an effort to increase productivity in early drug discovery and decrease attrition at later pipeline stages. Key topics considered include structure-based drug design, fragment-based drug design, natural products-based drug design, diversity-oriented synthesis, and chemo genomics. An overall assessment of the current and potential value of these approaches is presented. Various flavours of computer-aided drug design are also considered, as the complexity and limitations of drug discovery programs that are based on biochemical screens of large compound collections have been major factors in stimulating the growth of this modality.

Anti-Infective Agents in Medicinal Chemistry aims to cover all the latest and outstanding developments in medicinal chemistry and rational drug design for the discovery of new anti-infective agents. Each issue contains a series of timely in-depth reviews written by leaders in the field covering a range of current topics in anti-infective medicinal chemistry.  Anti-Infective Agents in Medicinal Chemistry is an essential journal for every medicinal chemist who wishes to be kept informed and up-to-date with the latest and most important developments in anti-infective drug discovery.

Perhaps nothing epitomizes the fusion of traditional and biomedicine more than predictive, preventive and personalized and participatory medicine. The truth is that modern medicine is desperately short of new treatments. It takes years for a new drug to get through the research and development pipeline to manufacture and the cost is enormous. Estimates suggest up to 80 per cent of the population has tried a therapy such as acupuncture or homeopathy. And a survey conducted earlier this year found that 74 per cent of us medical students believe that western medicine would benefit by integrating traditional or alternative therapies and practices.  Example –artemisinin , which is extracted from Artemisia annual or Chinese sweet wormwood, is the basis for the most effective malaria drugs the world has ever seen. But making traditional medicine truly mainstream — incorporating its knowledge into modern healthcare and ensuring it meets modern safety and efficacy standards — is no easy task and is far from complete.

Plant research and its technologies have improved dramatically over the last 5 years as a result of the revolutionary breakthroughs including new gene editing technologies and reduction in the cost of sequencing. Many plants have now been successfully sequenced and a wide range of biological data sets made available. As a result, plant scientists are now more than ever making use of state of the art technology platforms to help explain biological principals, advance research and therefore enable benefits such as crop improvement / breeding etc. The goals of agricultural plant science are to increase crop productivity, increase the quality of agricultural products, and maintain the environment. The success of transgenic crops has erased the last vestiges of doubt about the value of agricultural biotechnology and triggered large-scale investments in plant genomics. Genetic maps are also an important resource for plant gene isolation, as once the genetic position of any mutation. Since the invention of plant cell and tissue culture techniques more than half a century ago, scientists have been trying to understand the morphological, physiological, biochemical and molecular changes associated with tissue culture responses. Establishment of de novo developmental cell fate in vitro is governed by factors such as genetic make-up, stress and plant growth regulators.

Antibiotics are powerful medicines that fight bacterial infections. Most antibiotics fall into their individual antibiotic classes. An antibiotic class is a grouping of different drugs that have similar chemical and pharmacologic properties. Penicillin’s, tetracycline, cephalosporin, quinolones, lincomycins, macrolides, sulphonamides, aminoglycosides, carbapenems are few classes of antibiotics. Some antibiotics work by killing germs (bacteria or the parasite). This is often done by interfering with the structure of the cell wall of the bacterium or parasite. Some work by stopping bacteria or the parasite from multiplying. Most side-effects of antibiotics are not serious. Common side-effects include soft stools (faeces), diarrhoea, or mild stomach upset such as feeling sick (nausea). The overuse of antibiotics in recent years means they're becoming   less effective and has led to the emergence of "superbugs". These are strains of bacteria that have developed resistance to many different types of antibiotics.

Coronaviruses are types of viruses that typically affect the respiratory tracts of birds and mammals, including humans. Doctors associate them with the common cold, bronchitis, pneumonia, and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and they can also affect the gut. Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). A novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans. Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people.  Detailed investigations found that SARS-CoV was transmitted from civet cats to humans and MERS-CoV from dromedary camels to humans. Several known coronaviruses are circulating in animals that have not yet infected humans. Common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, and cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death. Standard recommendations to prevent infection spread include regular hand washing, covering mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, thoroughly cooking meat and eggs. Avoid close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing.

Infectious disease and antimicrobial agent use imply deep knowledge and expertise in this field by medical team and clinical pharmaceutical care principle can complete the clinician’s works in more rational way preserving the activity of some critical drugs from MDR diffusion. We think that using the methods of the researcher in 1800-1900 in their laboratory without a lot of burocratic rules we can obtain more relevant pharmacological molecules to introduce in therapy today. We can think also that a more rapid process in improving some chemical characteristics of some drugs is today requested and this can be reached also by single research level. This work must be favored by registrative institution in an acceptable toxicity risk level in order to have more chances in drug discovering and re-designing.

The term “nutraceutical” is used to describe these medicinally or nutritionally functional foods. Nutraceuticals, which have also been called medical foods, designer foods, phytochemicals, functional foods and nutritional supplements, include such everyday products as “bio” yoghurts and fortified breakfast cereals, as well as vitamins, herbal remedies and even genetically modified foods and supplements. Both can have a similar effect on the body but the long term affect is devastatingly different. The idea is that, “we can produce the same type of effect as drugs without all of the side effects”. Nutraceuticals, in contrast to pharmaceuticals, are substances, which usually have not patent protection. The straightforward application of pharmaceutical standards, especially across national borders, is likely to be a difficult challenge and could effectively paralyze the industry. We are all advocates for all natural nutrition, but due to the legal claim that only drugs can cure, prevent or mitigate. Nutraceuticals   cannot be recommended by doctors when someone is suffering from illness.

Directed disease treatments are drugs or other therapeutic substances which hinders the development and spread of tumour by hindering with the particles called sub-atomic targets which are associated with the development, movement and spread of malignancy. In this manner, advancement of novel-tumour ligand or pharmaceutical Nano bearers is very alluring. Hostile to disease drugs are likewise called Anti neoplastic-operators or Chemotherapeutic-specialists.

A worldwide increase in the rate of autism diagnoses—likely driven by broadened diagnostic criteria and increased awareness—has fuelled concerns that an environmental exposure like vaccines might cause autism. Substantial data demonstrate immune abnormality in many autistic children consistent with impaired resistance to infection, activation of inflammatory response, and autoimmunity. T lymphocytes (t cells) are abnormal in many autistic children. Cytokines from t cells regulate the full spectrum of antibody and cell-mediated response, the latter being particularly important in resistance to viral infections. In autism, there is clear-cut evidence of activation of the immune response system, which may be due to innate, toxic, or infectious influences - or some combination of these factors.  Changes in certain genes increase the risk that a child will develop autism. If a parent carries one or more of these gene changes, they may get passed to a child (even if the parent does not have autism). Certain environmental influences may further increase – or reduce – autism risk in people who are genetically predisposed to the disorder.

Huge progression has been made in the treatment of immune system sicknesses by presenting novel, for the most part biologic, sedates instead of substance particles. Biologic agents are biologically emerged and used therapeutically. Most of these agents are based on receptor proteins or antibodies. Biologic therapies help in the treatment of lupus erythematous, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, Grave's disease, and inflammatory bowel disease.

Chemistry is a stimulating field as it links many scientific disciplines and allows for collaboration with other scientists in researching and developing new drugs. Chemists apply their chemistry training to the process of synthesizing new pharmaceuticals. They also improve the processes by which existing pharmaceuticals are made. Medicinal chemists are focused on drug discovery and development and are concerned with the isolation of medicinal agents found in plants, as well as the creation of new synthetic drug compounds. Most chemists work with a team of scientists from different disciplines, including biologists, toxicologists, pharmacologists, theoretical chemists, microbiologists, and biopharmacists. Together, this team uses sophisticated analytical techniques to synthesize and test new drug products and to develop the most cost-effective and environmentally friendly means of production. Human exposure to contemporary materials and products has increased dramatically in modern times. We are constantly confronted with manufactured materials, both at work and during leisure pursuits, indoors as well as outdoors, whilst undertaking sports activities, or in social or educational environments. It is urgent to develop new therapeutic methods, with higher efficiency and lower side effects. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are found in the innate immune system of a wide range of organisms. Identified as the most promising alternative to conventional molecules used nowadays against infections, some of them have been shown to have dual activity, both as antimicrobial and anticancer peptides (ACPs). Cereals such as wheat, rice, barley, rye, and maize have been recently identified as new sources of bioactive peptides. High quality cereal proteins are an important source of bioactive peptides, which consist of distinctive amino acid sequences, and which, once they are released, could display diverse functionalities.

Targeted drug delivery, sometimes called smart drug delivery,is a method of delivering medication to a patient in a manner that increases the concentration of the medication in some parts of the body relative to others. It is a special form of drug delivery system where the medicament is selectively targeted or delivered only to its site of action or absorption and not to the non-target organs or tissues or cells.

Organic chemistry is a branch of chemistry that studies the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds, which contain carbon-carbon covalent bonds. Study of structure determines their structural formula.  Study of properties includes physical and chemical properties, and evaluation of chemical reactivity to understand their behavior. The study of organic reactions includes the chemical synthesis of natural products, drugs, and polymers, and study of individual organic molecules in the laboratory and via theoretical (in silico) study.

Environmental chemistry is associated with the impact of polluting chemicals on the natural resources, green or sustainable chemistry focuses on the impact of environmental factors or attributes with respect to chemistry, reduction in the consumption of conventional resources and technological solutions for preventing pollution.

Both the concepts are different from each other

Green chemistry, also termed as sustainable chemistry is that branch of chemical sciences that emphasizes on design of chemical processes and products that minimize generation of hazardous chemical substances. 

Environmental chemistry is the branch of science that involves the study of biochemical processes that occur in nature. It involves the understanding of how the uncontaminated environment works, and which naturally occurring chemicals are present, in what concentrations and with what effects.

Agricultural chemistry is the study of each chemistry and organic chemistry that are vital in agricultural production, the process of raw products into foods and beverages and in environmental monitoring and rectification. These studies emphasize the relationships between plants, animals and microorganism and their environment. The science of chemical compositions and changes concerned within the production, protection and use of crops are placental. As a basic science it embraces additionally to test-tube chemistry; all the life processes through that human acquire food and fibre for themselves and feed for their animals. As an engineering or technology, it's directed towards management of these processes to extend yields, improve quality and cut back prices.

Bio-fertilizer technology has shown promise for integrated nutrient management through biological Nitrogen fixation (BNF). Bio-fertilizers may also be used to improve Phosphate availability to crops. The efficacy of inoculants can vary with inoculant type, crop species, formulation, soil nutrient level, soil pH/type, existence of relevant microbes in the soil, and weather conditions. Bio-fertilizers are living organisms that enrich the nutrient quality of the soil. It refers to the use of microbes instead of chemicals to enhance the nutrition of the soil, it is also less harmful and does not cause pollution. Main roles of bio-fertilizers: Make nutrients available. Make the root rhizosphere livelier. Growth-promoting substances are produced. More root proliferation and better germination Improve the quality and quantity of produce. Improve the fertilizer use efficiency. Higher biotic and abiotic stress tolerance Improve soil health. Residual effect makes the system more sustainable “Biofertilizers are the product containing carrier based (solid or liquid) living microorganisms which are agriculturally useful in terms of nitrogen fixation, phosphorus solubilization or nutrient mobilization, to increase the productivity of the soil and/or crop. Biofertilizer applications: Seed treatment | Seedling root dip treatment | Soil treatment.

A polymer is any of a class of natural or synthetic substances composed of very large molecules, called macromolecules, which are multiples of simpler chemical units called monomers. Polymers make up many of the materials in living organisms and are the basis of many minerals and man-made materials.

Material science and engineering, also commonly known as materials science, encompasses the science, chemical engineering and chemical technology of materials and is an integrative subject which gives an idea about the discovery and design of new materials. It deals with studying materials through the materials paradigm (synthesis, structure, properties, and performance). In accordance with chronology, materials are segregated into natural and synthetic and they in turn are divided into inorganic, organic, bulk, micro scale and Nanoparticles. These various materials exhibit different properties according to their nature. This leads to the advancement in the field of electronics and photonics through basic, potentially transformative materials science research. Energy materials like photovoltaic cells help in sustaining energy resources. Mining and metallurgical studies involve in the manufacturing processes which convert raw materials into useful products adapted to human needs. It deals with materials-processing, their properties, and their selection and application. Computational Materials Science has a huge scope and calls for hierarchical and multi-scale methods involving modelling, simulation and first-principle calculations on all materials classes.