In modern medicinal chemistry, drug assays (screens) often require that thousands of compounds be detected reliably and quickly. Mass spectroscopy-based pharmaceutical analysis is the key to improved high-throughput drug screening, rational drug design and the analysis of multiple ligand-target interactions. What is more, it can be set up to work with only minute amounts of material, allowing is use in miniaturized benchtop assay systems. Its ability to discern several compounds in a single sample has made it possible to analyze complex drug-target interactions that are not easily accessible with other techniques. This first overview of the topic opens with a general introduction to the use of mass spectrometry in pharmaceutical screening, followed by a detailed description of recently developed analytical systems for use in the pharmaceutical laboratory. Applications range from simple binding assays to complex screens of biological activity and systems containing multiple targets or ligands -- all highly relevant techniques in the early stages in drug discovery, from target characterization to hit and lead finding. A ready reference for medicinal and organic chemists, spectroscopists, and those working in the pharmaceutical industry.
About the Author
Klaus T. Wanner studied Chemistry and Pharmacy in Munich and obtained a PhD in Pharmaceutical Chemistry in 1983. He was a postdoctoral fellow in the research group of A. I. Meyers at Colorado State University before taking up a faculty position at the Free University of Berlin. Since 1994, He is a full professor for Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of Munich. His main interest is in ligand and inhibitor design for GABA receptors and transporters, as well as in stereochemical aspects of structure-activity relationships.
Georg C. Hofner studied Pharmacy at the University of Munich and obtained a PhD in Pharmaceutical Chemistry in 1989. He is a specialist on screening technology and is currently supervising the biological assay unit of the Centre of Drug Research at the University of Munich.
