Molecular Database Construction and Mining: A General Approach to Unconventional Pathogen Countermeasures
Abstract
One general approach to unconventional pathogen countermeasures is to use specific inhibitors to cripple enzymes such as proteases that are pivotal to pathogen invasions. For example, botulinum toxins can be detoxified by inhibitors targeting the zinc endopeptidase located in the light-chain region of botulinum toxins, and anthrax can be detoxified by inhibitors targeting anthrax's lethal factor which is a zinc protease. The generality of this approach rests on the fact that all pathogen invasions are enzyme-dependent. Furthermore, viral and bacterial enzymes have high substrate specificity and can therefore be inhibited by specific inhibitors without interfering with other enzymes required for normal functions. This approach has been conceptually validated by the clinical use of protease inhibitors for treating various pathogen invasions. It is, however, not suitable for military use in its present form, because typically ten years are required to develop an effective protease inhibitor. Here we propose to use the advanced supercomputing technology to shorten the drug discovery process.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 14, 2004
- Accession Number
- ADA432883
Entities
People
- Yuan-Ping Pang