Towards a molecular characterisation of pathological pathways.
The dominant conceptual reductionism in drug discovery has resulted in many promising drug candidates to fail during the last clinical phases, mainly due to a lack of knowledge about the patho-physiological pathways they are acting on. Consequently, to increase the revenues of the drug discovery process, we need to improve our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying complex cellular processes and consider each potential drug target in its full biological context. Here, we review several strategies that combine computational and experimental techniques, and suggest a systems pathology approach that will ultimately lead to a better comprehension of the molecular bases of disease.
Pache
Roland A
RA
Institute for Research in Biomedicine and Barcelona Supercomputing Center, c/Josep Samitier 1-5, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
Zanzoni
Andreas
A
Naval
Jordi
J
Mas
José Manuel
JM
Aloy
Patrick
P
D010336:Pathology; D049490:Systems Biology