19/02/2015

The promiscuity of chemical probes discovered

A new computer tool developed by researchers of the Systems Pharmacology group of GRIB (IMIM-UPF) led by Jordi Mestres, lets the interaction between small molecules and thousands of proteins be predicted to study their relationship to different diseases. The study, published in the prestigious journal ACS Chemical Biology and chosen to be on the cover, has proven that many of these small molecules or chemical probes are not as selective as believed, but instead interact with multiple proteins, which could lead to confusion in experimental results. Understanding these interactions is key to developing more efficient and safer pharmaceuticals. 

Art. Reference: Antolín A, Mestres J. Distant Polypharmacology among MLP Chemical Probes. ACS Chem Biol. DOI: 10.1021/cb500393m