Shaping the Drugs of the Future
![The structure of aminoglycoside 3'-O-phosphotransferase](https://www.mcgill.ca/berghuis-lab/files/berghuis-lab/images/adph3.png)
Structure-based Drug Design is a scientific approach towards drug discovery. The approach involves examining the detailed structure of a protein (often an enzyme) whose (mal-) functioning is responsible for a disease. This information can be used to design compounds that specifically interact with that protein, thereby correcting its functioning. Such compounds are, in principal, drugs against the disease.
![FlaA1 in complex with NADPH and UDP-GlcNAc (PDB Code: 2GN4)](https://www.mcgill.ca/berghuis-lab/files/berghuis-lab/images/2gn4_bio_r_170.jpg)
The Berghuis Lab is employing the technique of X-ray crystallography to obtain detailed structural information of proteins and is subsequently using this information for Structure-based Drug Design efforts. The diseases we are targeting are bacterial and fungal infections, and antibiotic resistance.