Expression proteomics reveals protein targets and highlights mechanisms   of action of small molecule drugs
  Phenomenological screening of small molecule libraries for anticancer activity yields potentially interesting candidate molecules, with a bottleneck in the determination of drug targets and the mechanism of anticancer action. A novel approach to drug target deconvolution compares the abundance profiles of proteins expressed in a panel of cells treated with different drugs, and identifies proteins with cell-type independent and drug-specific regulation that is exceptionally strong in relation to the other proteins. Mapping top candidates on known protein networks reveals the mechanism of drug action, while abundant proteins provide a signature of cellular death/survival pathways. The above approach can significantly shorten drug target identification, and thus facilitate the emergence of novel anticancer treatments. 
Alexey Chernobrovkin (1), Consuelo Marin Vicente (1,2), Neus Visa (2)   and Roman A. Zubarev (1) ((1) Karolinska Institutet,...
q-bio.MN q-bio.CB