Ligands

The Human Proteome is made up of about 20,000 proteins that act as enzymes, antibodies, transcription factors, signaling molecules, and structural components. Of that number, only some 600 proteins are “druggable” for medicine. Ligands are the activators or inhibitors of proteins that make them targetable, and it is with ligand discovery that researchers at The Scripps Research Institute may have opened a new window on proteomics. By combinatorial screening, they have identified more than 700 cysteine-reactive small molecule “fragments” for cysteine rich protein targets. Biochemists can now begin the development of drugs that can reveal or block specific biological functions. MORE

Image Credit: en.wikipedia.org