Crystallographic and Modeling Methods in Molecular Design

This book contains the papers that were presented at the "Crystallo­ graphic and Modeling Methods in Molecular Design Symposium" in Gulf Shores, Alabama, April 30 to May 3, 1989. During the past few years, there has been a burst of activity in this area, especially related to drug design and protein engineering projects. The purpose of the symposium and this book is to provide an up-to­ date review of the most recent experimental and theoretical approaches that are being used for molecular design. The book covers several re­ cent examples of approaches for using crystallography in conjunction with forefront modeling methods for guiding the development of en­ zyme inhibitors and of peptides and proteins with modified biological and physical properties. In addition, this book contains discussions of new approaches for combining crystallographic data and advanced computational techniques for aiding in the design of enzyme inhibitors and other compounds that bind to selected biological targets. This book is therefore of interest not only to molecular biologists and biochem­ ists, but is stimulating reading for anyone involved in structural biol­ ogy, pharmaceutical chemistry, enzymology, protein engineering, and biotechnology. The meeting was the third in a series of symposia initiated and spon­ sored by the Department of Biochemistry, University of Alabama at Birmingham.