New screening strategy introduced to develop possible drug candidates

Scientists have developed a new drug-discovery strategy, which will help them in rapidly selecting chemical compounds that will have a desired effect on cells.

Researchers from the Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has also tried to highlight how these compounds will work.

Scientists have identified a compound that shows promise for treating obesity-linked diabetes by using the innovative technique, and were able to identify the fat-cell enzyme that the compound inhibits.

The strategy uses the increasing availability of special libraries of related compounds that act as inhibitors of entire enzyme classes.

The researchers have used a set of compounds, recently synthesized by Cravatt's laboratory, that tend to inhibit serine hydrolases.

The researchers have been able to use combined phenotypic screening and target-identification approach to quickly discover, characterize and carry out preclinical tests of a potential new drug for obesity-linked diabetes.

The study was published an advance online issue of Nature Chemical Biology.