Modelling how Drugs Work

Most drugs work by binding to specific receptors, which are large proteins typically expressed on the surface of cells. Drug binding to receptors requires the existence of affinity (chemical forces of attraction) between the drug and receptor, and can be readily described by relatively simple mathematical relationships.

As drug binding is essential for drug action, undergraduate students completing a Major in Pharmacology need to have an advanced level of understanding of how changes in the affinity of a drug for a receptor can influence binding, and to be able to readily interpret drug binding data.

The aim of the current project is for CITS3200 students to use well-established mathematical models of drug binding (provided) to develop an interactive application that enables Level 3 pharmacology students:

  1. to visualise how changes in the characteristics of drugs and receptors, such as affinity, can affect drug binding to receptors.
  2. to develop competencies in the visual interpretation of drug receptor binding data, via the generation and analysis of theoretical drug binding data.

In this project, CITS3200 students will use mathematical models to develop an educational tool that helps to visually explain the important concept of drug binding. Successful completion of the project will result in the incorporation of the application into the Molecular Pharmacology Methods (PHAR3311) unit for 2018.

Client

Contact Person: A/Prof Peter Henry
Telephone: 6457 3123
Email: [email protected]
Preferred method of contact: email or person-to-person
Location: QEII Medical Centre (M Block)

Client Unavailability

None

IP Exploitation Model

The client wishes to use a Creative Commons CC BY-NC model to deal with IP embodied in the project.