title: Diamond: shedding light on structure-based drug discovery.
abstract: Structure-based drug design has become a key tool for the development of novel drugs. The process involves elucidating the three-dimensional structure of the potential drug molecule bound to the target protein that has been identified as playing a key role in the disease state. Using this three-dimensional information facilitates the process of making improvements to the potential drug molecule by highlighting existing and possible new interactions within the binding site. This knowledge is used to inform increases in potency and selectivity of the molecules as well as to help improve other drug-like properties. The speed and numbers of samples that can be studied, combined with the improved resolution of the structures that can be obtained using synchrotron radiation, have had a significant impact on the utilization of crystallography in the drug discovery process.
authors.affiliation: School of Biosciences, Stacey Building, and Argenta Structural Biology, Ingram Building, University of Kent, Canterbury CT2 7NJ, UK dave.brown@crl.com.
authors.forename: David G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Diamond Light Source, UK.
authors.forename: Elizabeth J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Shotton
mesh_terms: D001331:Automation; D001665:Binding Sites; D001695:Biology / Q000379:methods; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods; D002626:Chemistry, Pharmaceutical / Q000379:methods*; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray / Q000379:methods; D015195:Drug Design; D006801:Humans; D017356:Synchrotrons; D013678:Technology, Pharmaceutical / Q000379:methods
keywords: crystallography; structure-based drug design; synchrotron radiation