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RNAi: A Robust Tool for Target Identification and Validation  

By Subrahmanyam Yerramilli, Eric Lader, Dirk Loeffert, Friederike Wilmer, Peter Hahn, Elizabeth Scanlan

The application of RNA interference (RNAi) to mammalian cells has significantly accelerated research in functional genomics and drug discovery. RNAi allows simple, effective, and specific downregulation of mammalian gene expression, making it a powerful and accessible technique with enormous scientific, commercial, and potential therapeutic value.More>>>

In Silico Methods and Predictive Tools Along the Drug Discovery Value Chain 

By Dragan A. Cirovic, Vijay Bhargava, Frank Harrison, Roy Vaz, Abdel Laoui

The emerging drug discovery paradigm emphasizes the concept ofin silico methods for predicting in vitro and in vivo absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion and toxicological (ADMET) parameters. These methods are being applied as early in the drug discovery value chain as possible to achieve early attrition of unpromising candidate compounds.More>>>

Microarrays on the Spot: Moving Gene Expression Microarray Data to the Clinic–An Analytical Requirements Perspective 

by Thomas Goralski

DNA microarrays are used to measure relative transcript abundance in RNA samples, allowing researchers to identify differences in gene expression. To date gene expression microarrays have predominantly served discovery based research efforts, however, recent technological improvements and standardization initiatives, as well as need driven incentives, have opened the possibility of using this high-complexity analytical test in both pre-clinical and clinical settings.More>>>

Technology Focus: Magnetic Beads Hold the Key to Novel Proteomic Analysis Using Mass Spectrometry 

By Hege Skjellerudsveen

Key to successful scientific research in any discipline is obtaining sufficient sample material. In particular for pharmaceutical research, protein isolation procedures often need to produce samples that have high integrity and concentration. Ideally, such a process would be easy to carry-out and, even more importantly, produce the sample in a format that is readily applicable to the experiment at hand.More>>>

Industry Watch: A Cure for Multiple Sclerosis in Our Lifetime?

By Anthony J. Sinskey, Stan N. Finkelstein, Scott M. Cooper

Practice guidelines for MS in the United States and Canada recommend disease-modifying agents for most patients, but at any given time only 20% are using the drugs.More>>>

Voice of Discovery: Interconnected Signaling Pathways: Rethinking Drug Specificity as a Desirable Objective

By Rangaprasad Sarangarajan, Shireesh Apte

Intracellular signaling occurs through cascades of interconnected/interdependent networks, rather than through linear pathways. Because effector molecules modulating this network typically function in both redundant and pleiotypic fashion, selective modulation of a single intracellular signaling pathway seems highly improbable.More>>>

Issue Preview

Coming up in the September 2005 issue of Pharmaceutical Discovery :

Can Medical Image Analysis Change the Economics of Drug Development?
Advances in medical imaging analysis are shedding new light on disease structure and function over time. The authors examine the potential of imaging biomarkers and other tools to improve the drug discovery and development process at every stage. Using Mircoarrays to Detect Disease and Tailor Therapy
Modern microarrays can genotype hundreds of thousands of SNPs at a single pass, allowing whole-genome studies of disease genetics and drug response. As costs fall, diagnostic microarrays are migrating from the lab to the clinic, classifying diseases more precisely than ever before and opening the door to personalized medicine. Microarrays on the Spot: The Importance of Introducing Gene Expression Analysis into Pharmacological Development Discovery by Design: On Predicting Side Effects and the Limitations of Rational Drug Design The Microscale Laboratory: A History of DNA Microarrays