STRUCTURE-BASED DRUG DESIGN - APPLICATIONS IN IMMUNOPHARMACOLOGY AND IMMUNOSUPPRESSION

Structure-based drug design (SBDD) combines the power of many scientif ic disciplines, such as X-ray crystallography, nuclear magnetic resona nce, medicinal chemistry, molecular modeling, biology, enzymology and biochemistry, in a functional paradigm of drug development. The curren t strength of SBDD lies in parlaying enzyme inhibitors into drugs, but a variety of technological advances over the past few years now makes it possible to address complex biological targets, such as those regu lating immunosuppression and immunoactivation. Manuel Navia and Debra Peattie discuss the SBDD paradigm and consider several of its achievem ents and challenges in immunopharmacology, particularly as these apply to the design of novel, potent immunosuppressants.