Medicinal chemists aim pharmaceuticals at just the right spot

Computer modeling of proteins in the College of Pharmacy are helping pinpoint the accuracy of anti-cancer drugs.

The protein folylpoly-G-glutatmate synthetase is a target for anticancer drugs. It has a large rigid part (in gray ribbons) and a smaller mobile section (three different positions are shown in colored ribbons).

Prof. Heather Carlson, a medicinal chemist, and her coworkers at the College of Pharmacy have used computer modeling to examine how well drugs bind to the protein. A potential drug is shown in purple. The red position of the protein will fit the drug well, but the green and blue positions create a pocket that is too large.

Prof. Carlson and Prof. James Coward, chair of medicinal chemistry in Pharmacy, hope to use the larger pockets to design new anticancer drugs that bind in new ways to the protein.

Coward has been pursuing anticancer drugs for almost 20 years. He uses chemical synthesis and enzymology (experimental methods), while Carlson uses computers (theoretical methods).

"It is a nice example of the many interdisciplinary collaborations here at U-M," Carlson notes.

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