The 1 ECTS NDPIA course “Protein structure and drug design” focusing on the use of structural information and computational chemistry in drug design was held 18-19 January 2016 at Lund University. The course was organised by Salam Al-Karadaghi, Department of Biochemistry and Structural Biology, Centre for Molecular Protein Science (CMPS). The overall feed-back of the course was very positive and next year a slightly modified version of the course will be held. Information about this will be provided as soon as posible.

At the course in January, participants were provided with an introduction to the use of structure-based drug design followed by hands-on exercise on the use of graphics program to analyse protein-ligand interactions. The case of COX-1/COX-2 inhibitor design was presented as an example of how structural information can be used in the design of specific inhibitors. This was followed by a lecture on the structural basis of protein synthesis and antibiotics action in inhibition of protein synthesis. Practical exercises where followed by a tutorial on the overall principles of ligand docking and the use of Internet-based tools for protein docking and screening.

Useful links:
General information on protein structures: www.proteinstructures.com
Software for download of SwissPDB viewer and tutorial: http://spdbv.vital-it.ch/.