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In efforts to characterize structures that bind to benzodiazepine receptors, researchers are turning to computers. For example, computational chemist Danni L. Harris and colleagues at the Molecular Research Institute, a nonprofit research organization in Mountain View, Calif., have calculated a pharmacophore--a spatial arrangement of chemical structures--that sedating molecules should have in common. The pharmacophore consists of two proton-accepting atoms, such as an oxygen or nitrogen, a hydrophobic group, and an aromatic ring. Knowing this configuration of structures should aid in drug design.
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