LSC-20087 - Module Specification School of Life Sciences Faculty of Natural Sciences
For academic year: 2020/21 Last Updated: 25 February 2021
LSC-20087 - Drug design
Coordinator: Anja Winter Tel: +44 1782 7 33117
School Office: 01782 734414
Programme/Approved Electives for 2020/21
Available as a Free Standing Elective
Co-requisites
None
Prerequisites
none
Barred Combinations
none
Description for 2020/21
Many drugs that are available today were discovered by chance through the trial-and-error method. Current drug discovery, however, utilises the vast amount of information that is available through genomics, proteomics and structural studies. One of the most common strategy in drug discovery is the use of structure-based drug design. The rational development of a new drug therefore follows the following steps: i) identification of a biological target, such as a receptor or an enzyme that is related to a particular disease, ii) designing of a molecule that binds to the target and has the desired biological effect on the target. This process can take several years to bring a medicine from the bench to the patient. Even with very good information of the structure of the target, it is very difficult to design a drug that will specifically only bind to the selected target and have the desired pharmacological effects. Additionally, pharmacokinetics and drug metabolism are also very important and need to be evaluated. This module will provide you with an overview of the drug design pipeline starting from in-silico studies up to clinical trials. You will also cover the principles of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. Finally specific examples of biological targets will be discussed and you will investigate with the use of informatics tools how chemical structures and biological targets interact.
To expand core level 4 biological chemistry material and its application to drug design and development. Students will be introduced to the drug development pipeline through to clinical trials and emerging technologies in drug design, as well as principles of pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics, and the physiochemical properties of drugs/ligands and their molecular interactions with biological targets.
Intended Learning Outcomes
explain the principles of the drug discovery pipeline from candidate selection through to clinical trials: 3explain basic concepts of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics and their importance to drug delivery, potency and selectivity: 2,3describe the molecular interactions between drugs/ligands and their targets in biological systems: 1,2,3evaluate the structures of molecules related to their suitability as therapeutic agents and discuss approaches to ligand-based drug design through structure-activity relationships: 1,3discuss approaches to rational drug design based on knowledge of the three-dimensional structure of biological targets: 1,3manipulate and present structural information for protein-ligand interactions using the protein data bank: 1communicate effectively in written and visual form through the production of a written report and group communication exercise: 1,2
Study hours
18 1-hour lectures15 hours of tutorials/workshops02 hours examination46 hours preparation of in-course assessments69 hours independent study; examination
School Rules
None
Description of Module Assessment