Affinity-Based Methods in Drug-Target Discovery

Target discovery using the molecular approach, as opposed to the more traditional systems approach requires the study of the cellular or biological process underlying a condition or disease. The approaches that are employed by the "bench" scientist may be genetic, genomic or proteomic and each has its rightful place in the drug-target discovery process. Affinity-based proteomic techniques currently used in drug-discovery draw upon several disciplines, synthetic chemistry, cell-biology, biochemistry and mass spectrometry. An important component of such techniques is the probe that is specifically designed to pick out a protein or set of proteins from amongst the varied thousands in a cell lysate. A second component, that is just as important, is liquid-chromatography tandem massspectrometry (LC-MS/MS). LC-MS/MS and the supporting theoretical framework has come of age and is the tool of choice for protein identification and quantification. These proteomic tools are critical to maintaining the drug-candidate supply, in the larger context of drug discovery.