What is chemical genomics?
Chemical genetics is the study of biological systems using small molecule (‘chemical’) intervention instead of only genetic or biological interventions [1]. More simply, it is the study of how small molecules interact with cells. One of the greatest advantages of using small molecules is that they can induce their biological effects rapidly and often reversibly.
To move the field of chemical genetics to a genome-wide scale requires approaches that are general. Given that small molecules substitute for mutations in chemical genetics, general methods are needed to design compounds that will modulate the function of any gene or protein in a cell, or methods to prepare and screen large collections of diverse compounds for biological activity [2].
How can chemical genetics be used?
Chemical genetics can be used in drug discovery in two ways [3]:
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Conclusion
The ultimate goal of chemical genomics is to provide biologists with a toolbox of specific small molecules for every protein in a cell [1]. While looking through the PubChem database, there was little to no information about CLN3. This could be attributed to the lack of knowledge surrounding CLN3 protein functions as well as the lack of drugs created to treat Batten Disease.
References
[1] Spring, D. R. (2005). Chemical genetics to chemical genomics: Small molecules offer big insights. Chemical Society Reviews,34(6), 472. doi:10.1039/b312875j
[2] MacBeath G. (2001). Chemical genomics: what will it take and who gets to play?. Genome biology, 2(6), COMMENT2005.
[3] Cacace, E., Kritikos, G., & Typas, A. (2017). Chemical genetics in drug discovery. Current Opinion in Systems Biology,4, 35-42. doi:10.1016/j.coisb.2017.05.020
Images:
Header: https://blog.frontiersin.org/2017/10/05/join-us-in-orlando-florida-for-the-american-society-of-human-genetics-2017-conference-ashg-2017/
Figure 1: http://polyp.biochem.uci.edu/wiki/index.php/Chemical_genetic_screening_with_Hydra
Figure 2: https://www.thieme.de/en/thieme-chemistry/thieme-chemistry-provides-700000-structures-to-pubchem-138689.htm
[2] MacBeath G. (2001). Chemical genomics: what will it take and who gets to play?. Genome biology, 2(6), COMMENT2005.
[3] Cacace, E., Kritikos, G., & Typas, A. (2017). Chemical genetics in drug discovery. Current Opinion in Systems Biology,4, 35-42. doi:10.1016/j.coisb.2017.05.020
Images:
Header: https://blog.frontiersin.org/2017/10/05/join-us-in-orlando-florida-for-the-american-society-of-human-genetics-2017-conference-ashg-2017/
Figure 1: http://polyp.biochem.uci.edu/wiki/index.php/Chemical_genetic_screening_with_Hydra
Figure 2: https://www.thieme.de/en/thieme-chemistry/thieme-chemistry-provides-700000-structures-to-pubchem-138689.htm
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