Workshop 5

Wednesday, May 9
Guest House
9:00 - 12:00
1:00 - 4:45

WK5 - Drug Discovery at the Advanced Photon Source

Organizer:
Barry Finzel, Pfizer
Bill Stallings, ProXyChem

To agenda > (updated 4/16/07)

Overview

The past decade has seen significant advances in the ability of single crystal x-ray diffraction experiments to impact the drug discovery process.  The development and implementation of high energy synchrotron radiation sources, fast detector technologies, and robotic automation have enabled an unprecedented number of crystals to be evaluated in the accelerated timeline demanded by the industrial drug development process.  Using x-ray crystallography, atomic resolution structures of drugs bound to their target proteins can be obtained that provide invaluable information related to how these compounds physically interact with their target.  In many cases, this information can suggest ways to improve binding properties, modulate physicochemical properties of the compound without impacting binding affinity, and facilitate the design of novel compounds using computational techniques.  This workshop will discuss real-life examples of how crystal structures determined using APS facilities have impacted drug discovery.  Topics will also include the technical capabilities of APS beamlines and the role of structural genomics in modern drug discovery.

Agenda