At present, the competition in international drug research is mainly reflected in the research of drug targets. Generally speaking, once a new target of drug action is discovered, it will often become a breakthrough in the discovery of a series of new drugs. New drug targets are crucial to drug research and pharmaceutical companies. There is even a saying that "a target creates an industry." Recently, the 23rd "New Viewpoints and New Doctrine" academic salon of the China Association for Science and Technology started a dispute about drug targets around the issue of "Drug Discovery - New Models and New Strategies".
“The international new drug research field presents a significant feature, that is, the intersection of cutting-edge life science technologies such as functional genomics, proteomics and bioinformatics with drug research is increasingly close, and it is based on discovery. and verifying new drug targets as the main goal. "From the current point of view, research on drug targets can be carried out at both the gene and protein levels." At the 23rd "New Views and New Doctrine" academic salon of the China Association for Science and Technology. , the experts’ speeches revolved around the term target.
Du Guanhua, President of the Chinese Pharmacological Society, said that research on drug targets has been very hot in recent years, but no outstanding results have been achieved so far. The research objects and strategies are all centered on existing drug targets, and no new drug ideas have emerged. Du Guanhua believes that "the definition of drug targets has not yet been explained, and the role of drug targets has not yet been highlighted."
Du Guanhua gave the definition of drug targets this way: drug targets are those that are specific to a specific drug. Biomacromolecules or biomolecular structures that sexually combine and produce disease-treating effects or regulate physiological functions; produce biological effects on the structure of substances and play a leading role in complex regulatory processes or pathways; expression and activity of substances under pathological conditions , structure or characteristics may change.
Du Guanhua said that currently the number of targets discovered by humans has stagnated at around 500, and the cycle for discovering and confirming new targets is often three to five years. As a young field, target drug development still requires the intervention of more new ideas, new methods and new technologies.
Du Guanhua said at the meeting that as a specific "target" for drugs to act in the human body, domestic drug target discovery and confirmation research still lacks effective methods and technologies, making the discovery of new targets more difficult. rare.
“Not every drug has found its drug target.” At the academic salon, some experts pointed out that many drugs have not found corresponding targets so far, but they are very good. medicine. For example, many of the drugs currently used to treat diabetes first discover their effects and then find their targets.
Liao Mingyang, a researcher at the Institute of Toxicology and Drugs of the Academy of Military Medical Sciences, said that some drugs may have some targets, but some drugs have no targets. For example, some traditional Chinese medicines have been used for thousands of years without knowing their targets, but they are still drugs, so drugs do not necessarily have targets.
Jin Si, associate professor at Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, holds a different view: a drug must have a target. "The fact that the target has not been found does not mean that there is no target. If the target is expanded, the target can be found." Jin Si said, "Many drugs cannot find the target, probably because they are in small amounts such as inorganic salts. It works molecularly." He speculated from his own research that small molecules may also be a type of neglected targets, and the search for targets should not be limited to biological macromolecules. He said that although the technology for identifying small molecule targets is less developed, if we change our thinking and strengthen research in this area, it may open another broad door to the development of botanical target drugs.
Compared with common synthetic drugs, the mechanism of action of traditional Chinese medicine is more complex. Many participating experts also said that it is difficult to make progress in finding targets for traditional Chinese medicine. Even the most common isatis root, its The target has not yet been determined. Professor Wang Yuqiang, Dean of the School of Pharmacy of Jinan University, said that many traditional Chinese medicines now have multiple ingredients and multiple targets. Now, some people think this is a "palliative" statement because we have not found its effective ingredients and targets.
A more enlightening view is the view of combined targets brought by Zhou Wenxia, ??a researcher at the Institute of Toxicology and Drugs of the Academy of Military Medical Sciences. Combination targets are actually multiple targets.
She pointed out that for some diseases with complex causes such as Alzheimer's disease and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, it is difficult for single-target drugs to be effective. Therefore, a multi-target system can be established to allow multiple “drug targets” to constitute a “shooting range”. These "targets" are combined to form a spectrum, which is then used to screen drugs. It is worth mentioning that due to the complex composition of raw materials and multiple medicinal ingredients, traditional Chinese medicine compounds have natural advantages over synthetic drugs when used to deal with multiple targets.
Some participating experts said that treating diseases with complex causes requires a multi-pronged approach from multiple targets, and traditional Chinese medicine compounds can act on multiple targets and have good development prospects. Opposition points out that the interaction between the components of a traditional Chinese medicine compound will affect the controllability of the efficacy and hinder its clinical use. The ideal multi-target drug should use the same component to act on multiple targets.
Drug target research applies all technical methods that may be applied in life science research, but its discovery and confirmation research still require continuous innovation and exploration of effective technical methods and approaches. At the salon, many experts said, "Drug target research will play an extremely important role in promoting the discovery and development of drugs, and people's research on drug targets will be carried out for a long time. With the continuous improvement of understanding of drug targets, As technology and methods continue to mature, new drug targets will continue to be discovered, and drugs with new targets and better therapeutic effects will continue to emerge. ”