The role of crystallography in drug design.
Structure and function are intimately related. Nowhere is this more important than the area of bioactive molecules. It has been shown that the enantioselectivity of an enzyme is directly related to its chirality. X-ray crystallography is the only method for determining the "absolute" configuration of a molecule and is the most comprehensive technique available to determine the structure of any molecule at atomic resolution. Results from crystallographic studies provide unambiguous, accurate, and reliable 3-dimensional structural parameters, which are prerequisites for rational drug design and structure-based functional studies.
Deschamps
Jeffrey R
JR
Laboratory for the Structure of Matter, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375, USA. deschamps@nrl.navy.mil
D000818:Animals; D002626:Chemistry, Pharmaceutical / Q000379:methods*; D003461:Crystallography / Q000379:methods; D015195:Drug Design; D018847:Opioid Peptides / Q000737:chemistry*; D013552:Swine
D018847:Opioid Peptides