EMD Biosciences Releases Substructure Searchable Inhibitor Database Files
EMD Biosciences, Inc. (EMD), a major supplier of premium research tools for proteomics and disease pathway analysis through its global brands Calbiochem(R), Novabiochem(R), and Novagen(R), announces the on-line availability of Substructure Searchable Inhibitor Database Files. A chemical structure data file (.sdf) and a ChemFinder-compatible file are available that currently consist of more than 650 records based on EMD Biosciences’ collection of small molecule inhibitors. EMD is part of the Life Science and Analytics (LSA) division of Merck KGaA (Darmstadt, Germany) and operates as EMD Biosciences, Inc. in North America and as Merck Biosciences outside North America.
The files may be downloaded into a variety of applications and allow researchers to search by structure, substructure, catalog number, molecular formula, molecular weight or CAS number. Each record features additional information, including: product description, purity, form, solubility, recommended storage, and references for more than 650 small molecule inhibitors. Targets include: kinases, phosphatases, proteases, polymerases, COX/LOX, HDAC, HMG-CoA Reductase, nitric oxide synthase, and more. The files can be accessed without charge at http://www.calbiochem.com/inhibitordatabase , and researchers can choose to be notified electronically when updates are available.
Inhibitors are critical tools for researchers studying cell signaling. In the body, biochemical and environmental signals control intracellular processes as well as interactions between cells, tissues, and organs. Cellular enzymes often transmit, or respond to, those signals. Many diseases result from the dysfunction of one particular enzyme among the thousands present in a typical cell. Therapeutically, inhibitors are used to normalize an overactive dysfunctional pathway in living cells. In vitro they may be used to identify and study enzyme(s) that may be responsible for disease, and to enable researchers to pinpoint a specific enzyme as a possible target for drug therapy.
“With an increased interest by pharmaceutical companies in developing therapeutic enzyme inhibitors and receptor blockers, the release of these files is very timely,” stated Dr. Venkat Bhat, Vice President Product Management and Technology Transfer, EMD Biosciences. “Response has already been overwhelmingly favorable, even though the files have been available for only a short time.”
About EMD Biosciences, Inc.
EMD Biosciences, Inc. provides a broad range of innovative life science research products used world-wide in disease-related life science research at universities as well as in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry. The company is part of the Life Science and Analytics (LSA) division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany and operates as EMD Biosciences, Inc. in North America and Merck Biosciences outside North America. Globally, EMD Biosciences is known in the scientific community through its product brands Calbiochem(R), Novabiochem(R), and Novagen(R).
About Merck KGaA
Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany is a global pharmaceutical and chemical company with sales of EUR 5.9 billion in 2005, a history that began in 1668, and a future shaped by 29,133 employees in 54 countries. The former U.S. subsidiary, Merck & Co., has been completely independent of the Merck Group since 1917.
