Metabolomica e drug discovery (2009/2010)

Learning outcomes

The course provides the keys to understand the interactions of endogenous and exogenous small organic molecules with organisms, and corresponding applications.

Metabolite as ultimate indicators of gene expression and physiological processes. The metabolome. Approach in metabolomics. Anlytical techniques, including mass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy. Multivariate statistics. Applications of metabolomics in biomarkers identification, diagnosis, toxicology. Role of metabolomics in drug discovery: efficacy, safety, and drug optimization. Drug discovery: development of molecules with pharmaceutical applications. Design of compound libraries. Fragment-based screening against biological targets. Specroscopic methods in drug screening. Rational design. Drug optimization.

The final test is oral.