508336 - CHEMISTRY OF MOLECULAR RECOGNITION

Molecular recognition is a fundamental step in essentially any biological process. Enzyme catalysis, cellular signaling, protein-protein association, protein crowding, and the non-covalent binding of a receptor with a ligand molecule, to name only a few, involve the recognition between two or more molecular binding partners, leading either to their association or to their rejection. In order to have molecular recognition phenomena, molecules must interact (establishing noncovalent bonds between them: hydrogen bonding, coordinative bonding, hydrophobic forces, π-π interactions, van der Waals forces, electrostatic and/or electromagnetic effects) and exchange information (as a result of the selectivity of the formed bonds). The study of specific interactions between a host molecule and a complementary guest molecule, which results in a host-guest complex, will be the core of this course. The course is organized into two sections: 1) Definition of drug and methods for the discovery of new drugs (screening of natural substances, molecules structurally related to first-in-class compounds (me too drugs), pro-drugs, study of antimetabolites and drug metabolites, serendipity). Study of the chemical-physical properties of drugs and their influence in drug-target interactions (chemical bonds, intermolecular forces, ionization, lipophilicity etc.). 2) Classification of drug targets and study of structure-activity relationships (SAR): receptors (cholinergic and adrenergic systems; opioids; local anestethics); enzymes (i.e. acetylcholinesterase, cyclooxygenases, dihydrofolate reductase, thymidylate synthase, ACE, polymerases, penicillin binding protein, beta-lactamase); nucleic acids; lipids; carbohydrates, ribosomes.