Introduction to Biological and Small Molecule Drug Research and Development: Chapter 2. Protein structure and function

This chapter covers the general features of protein structure and recent advances in structural bioinformatics. The importance of the three-dimensional structure of the protein target in order to understand its mechanism of action as an aid for drug design is illustrated by specific examples of enzyme inhibition, receptor interactions and drugs binding to structural proteins. The impact of proteomics and bioinformatics is stressed, while protein interactions with other proteins and different biological macromolecules are discussed.