http://goparallel.sourceforge.net/prostate-cancers-new-opponent-the-supercomputer/
Southern Methodist University (SMU) researchers say they have discovered three new drug-like compounds that could improve survival rates of prostate cancer patients. The compounds could be modified and developed into medicine that targets a protein responsible for chemotherapy resistance, according to a recent university press release <http://blog.smu.edu/research/2015/09/08/researchers-discover-new-drug-like-compounds-that-may-improve-odds-for-men-battling-prostate-cancer/> . According to SMU biochemistry professor Pia D. Vogel, the P-glycoprotein (P-gp) eliminates toxins from cells, but sometimes evolves and pushes out chemotherapeutics as well. Vogel and her team of researchers discovered the three compounds after virtually screening more than 15 million small drug-like compounds from the pharmacology database Zinc at University of California at San Francisco, the release said. SMU biologist John G. Wise ran the compounds through a computer model of P-gp with SMU’s ManeFrame high-performance computer, which runs on Intel Xeon processors. The virtual model is the first to simulate the behavior of the protein in the human body, including interactions with drug-like compounds, the release said. Researchers discovered 300 compounds that looked like they could inhibit P-gp. They tested 38 of those in a physical lab and found four that inhibited the protein. Those four compounds were tested further by using a chemotherapy drug on prostate cancer cells; three were effective, the release said. The three compounds are not drugs yet, but they are promising candidates for chemical modification and could become therapeutic drugs one day. The timetable from drug discovery to development, clinical trials and approval could take at least 10 years, according to the release. The researchers recently published their findings in the journal Pharmacology Research & Perspectives. Posted on September 23, 2015 by Wylie Wong, Slashdot Media Contributing Editor -- With best wishes S Chander -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
