Crash course: Drug discovery & Delivery

Question 1

What is Genome Analysis?

Answer 1

The study of a complete set of an organism’s DNA, including all of its genes.

-Foundation of the modern approach to developing drugs called Reverse Pharmacology

Human Genome Project- researchers were able to sequence 3.2 billion base pairs which allowed for the rapid cloning & synthesis of large quantities of purified proteins

Question 2

What is Reverse Pharmacology?

Answer 2

Starts by identifying which of these proteins is related to the condition you want to treat

Question 3

What is genome analysis used for?

Answer 3

It is used by clinicians and researchers to learn about differences and changes in in an individuals genetic makeup, leading to discovering the role that genetics plays in disease and treatment

Question 4

How is Reverse pharmacology carried out?

Answer 4

• Compare that protein to a list of chemical reactions to find a molecule known to interact with it
• If you find a match, you can test the substance on living cells to see if the reaction has any positive impact
• staring with the problem area and working backwards, faster and more educated way to discover a new medicine

Question 5

What is drug delivery?

Answer 5

Getting the medicine to move through the body, find the site of the problem and attach to the right part of the cells

Question 6

What is targeted drug delivery?

Answer 6

• Ensure the medicine/ treatment is treating the damaged, bad cells
• Enables you to maximize the positive effect at a specific place in the body with few negative side effects elsewhere
• It would allow you to treat hard-to-reach areas while using smaller doses

Question 7

Examples of Direct Local Delivery Systems:

Answer 7

1. Skin Patch- patches that slowly release medicine into the body over a period of time
   - commonly used to administer birth control or help smokers with nicotine withdrawal
2. Drug-Eluting Stent- mesh tube that delivers time-released medicine, can do the same thing as skin patch but within the body
   - often implanted in patients with CAD
3. Microparticles- small enough to travel through the heart as part of the bloodstream, yet big enough that they can’t fit through capillaries.
   - they are injected

Question 8

How to speed up or slow down the release of medicine?

Answer 8

Try using a different material- one that degrades at a different speed or design the particles to have smaller or bigger pores

Question 9

Example of innovative medicine Microbubbles:

Answer 9

Idea currently being developed, super small bubbles filled with gas

• some day they could hold a chemotherapy drug that would only be released when the bubbles experience the wave of an ultrasound
• The ultrasound would target a specific part of the body and burst only the microbubbles at the site of the tumor to activate the drug only where it is needed the most