Lead structure (pharmacology)

A lead structure (Engl. Lead ) is a chemical substance which in pharmaceutical research as part of a drug design as a starting point for the development of a drug is tested candidates. A lead structure already shows a desired biological effect in vitro , but does not yet have the qualities required for a drug in terms of potency, selectivity and pharmacokinetics .

A lead structure differs from any hit from a high-throughput screening in that its structure allows the synthesis of analogous molecules. A lead structure can also be a natural product , which has to be improved in its pharmacological properties through chemical modifications.

Using suitable chemical, biochemical and in silico methods, medicinal chemistry tries to optimize the molecular structure and thus the mode of action of the lead structure to such an extent that the drug candidate can be tested in the next phases of drug development.

See also

• Category: Drug
• Cheminformatics
• Bioinformatics

literature

• Gareth Thomas: Medicinal Chemistry, 2nd Edition, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, West Sussex, 2007, ISBN 978-0-470-02598-7 .
• Heinz Lüllmann , Klaus Mohr , Lutz Hein : Pharmacology and Toxicology, 16th edition Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart New York, ISBN 3-13-368516-3 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ernst Mutschler , Gerd Geisslinger, Heyo K. Kroemer , Peter Ruth, Monika Schäfer-Korting : Mutschler drug effects. Textbook of pharmacology and toxicology . 9th edition. Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-8047-1952-1 .
2. ↑ Gerd Folkers; Jörg Hüser; Raimund Mannhold; Hugo Kubinyi (Ed.): High-Throughput Screening in Drug Discovery (Methods and Principles in Medicinal Chemistry) , Weinheim: Wiley-VCH 2006, ISBN 3-527-31283-8 .