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When do researchers measure binding affinity?
Measuring binding affinity is useful for:
ظ Characterizing receptor binding properties
ظ Quantifying interactions with antibodies
ظ Analyzing protein complexes
ظ Investigating enzyme inhibition
ظ Performing drug discovery with PROTACs or molecular glues
ظ Observing molecular transport processes
ظ Mapping epitopes
ظ Optimizing leads
ظ Pursuing fragment-based lead discovery
ظ Analyzing the effects of buffers, solutions, and concentration
on the interaction
start the screening process by identifying which ones bind to the target
protein at all, and then continue with an increasingly smaller pool of
compound candidates. They determine and rank various compounds'
binding affinities for the target protein as an indicator of potency of a
possible drug candidate.
Now that you understand the what and why of binding affinity, it's time
to discuss when it comes into play in the research workflow. Put simply,
when you are curious if two molecules interact in a pathway or process
of interest, you use binding affinity assays to find out. But phrasing
it like that doesn't do justice to the wide range of questions you can
address using binding affinity, so let's go through some more examples.
You can also measure binding affinity when modifying a molecule to see
how the modification changes the molecule's binding properties and
therefore its contribution to the pathway or process you are studying.
Knowing binding affinity is also useful when you need to develop a
functional assay to monitor a pathway, as you may need to measure
binding as part of the assay.
Academic researchers typically want to understand the biology and
regulation of a target molecule regardless of its therapeutic potential.
Binding affinity assays are therefore useful in almost any academic
research area, whether pharmaceutically relevant or not.
On the industry side of the research spectrum, binding affinity is a
useful metric during all parts of the pre-clinical drug development
process where scientists are looking for any compounds that interact
with their target of interest. For example, early on in drug development,
scientists begin with a large library of compounds or ligands. They
