Chemoinformatics and Computational Chemical Biology

Book excerpt: Over the past years, the chem(o)informatics field has further evolved and new application areas have opened up, for example, in the broadly defined area of chemical biology. In Chemoinformatics and Computational Chemical Biology, leading investigators bring together a detailed series of reviews and methods including, among others, system-directed approaches using small molecules, the design of target-focused compound libraries, the study of molecular selectivity, and the systematic analysis of target-ligand interactions. Furthermore, the book delves into similarity methods, machine learning, probabilistic approaches, fragment-based methods, as well as topics that go beyond the current chemoinformatics spectrum, such as knowledge-based modeling of G protein-coupled receptor structures and computational design of siRNA libraries. As a volume in the highly successful Methods in Molecular BiologyTM series, this collection provides detailed descriptions and implementation advice that are exceedingly relevant for basic researchers and practitioners in this highly interdisciplinary research and development area. Cutting-edge and unambiguous, Chemoinformatics and Computational Chemical Biology serves as an ideal guide for experts and newcomers alike to this vital and dynamic field of study.