IIT Delhi researchers design new strategy for developing drug molecules

NEW DELHI: A research team from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi has developed a new drug designing strategy to develop potential drug molecules to treat different diseases.

The present strategy of using computer-aided rational drug discovery is time-consuming, claims IIT Delhi. The researchers came up with a different approach where the macromolecular interface are mimicked by small molecules. According to the researchers, the new drug strategy can also help in treating retroviral infections.

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According to a statement from IIT Delhi, researchers has made use of organic chemistry and biophysics tools to design molecules that target protein interface. The new method is said to make the drug design approach easier compared to the present methods.

The IIT Delhi researcher team was led by V Haridas, professor at the chemistry department of IIT Delhi. Virologist Guruprasad Medigeshi, who is also a professor at the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), and biochemist Bishwajit Kundu, professor at the Kusuma School of Biological Sciences, IIT Delhi accompanied Haridas in the research.

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“We used this strategy to design drug molecules, which could be useful for the treatment of Japanese Encephalitis Virus (JEV), the main cause for viral encephalitis in Southeast Asian countries, and protein aggregation diseases such as Alzheimer’s and other related diseases. We have also patented the JEV inhibitor drug molecule,” said Haridas.