Conexiant
Login
  • The Analytical Scientist
  • The Cannabis Scientist
  • The Medicine Maker
  • The Ophthalmologist
  • The Pathologist
  • The Traditional Scientist
The Analytical Scientist
  • Explore

    Explore

    • Latest
    • News & Research
    • Trends & Challenges
    • Keynote Interviews
    • Opinion & Personal Narratives
    • Product Profiles
    • App Notes

    Featured Topics

    • Mass Spectrometry
    • Chromatography
    • Spectroscopy

    Issues

    • Latest Issue
    • Archive
  • Topics

    Techniques & Tools

    • Mass Spectrometry
    • Chromatography
    • Spectroscopy
    • Microscopy
    • Sensors
    • Data and AI

    • View All Topics

    Applications & Fields

    • Clinical
    • Environmental
    • Food, Beverage & Agriculture
    • Pharma and Biopharma
    • Omics
    • Forensics
  • People & Profiles

    People & Profiles

    • Power List
    • Voices in the Community
    • Sitting Down With
    • Authors & Contributors
  • Business & Education

    Business & Education

    • Innovation
    • Business & Entrepreneurship
    • Career Pathways
  • Events
    • Live Events
    • Webinars
  • Multimedia
    • Video
Subscribe
Subscribe

False

The Analytical Scientist / Issues / 2021 / Feb / Target Practice
Mass Spectrometry Pharma and Biopharma

Target Practice

A new native MS method may help overcome the bottleneck of drug target identification

By Matt Hallam 02/16/2021 1 min read

Share

Identifying the biological targets of small-molecule drugs remains a bottleneck in drug discovery efforts – but is it one we can overcome? A new method that capitalizes on the specific detection of protein-drug complexes by native MS looks favorable.

Miaomiao Liu and colleagues applied their native MS method to investigate known interactions between parthenolide (a natural product of antimalarial drug artemisinin) and thioredoxin (a redox protein present in all living organisms). To their joy, binding of parthenolide to thioredoxin binding was identified in untargeted fashion in two samples: a mixture of five proteins from malarial parasite Plasmodium falciparum and a bacterial cell lysate. 

The implications of this finding? The preliminary data indicate that native MS could be used to identify binding targets for any small molecule. If future studies realise this potential, pharmaceutical researchers may be in luck!

Newsletters

Receive the latest analytical science news, personalities, education, and career development – weekly to your inbox.

Newsletter Signup Image

References

  1. M Liu et al., Sci. Rep, 11, 2387 (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-81859-4.

About the Author(s)

Matt Hallam

I've always wanted a job that fosters creativity - even when I worked on the assembly line in a fish factory. Outside work, I satisfy this need by writing questionable fiction. The venture into science writing was an unexpected departure from this fiction, but I'm truly grateful for the opportunity to combine my creative side with my scientific mind as Editor of The Analytical Scientist.

More Articles by Matt Hallam

False

Advertisement

Recommended

False

Related Content

 This Week’s Mass Spec News
Mass Spectrometry
This Week’s Mass Spec News

April 4, 2025

2 min read

 What If Computers Could Smell?
Mass Spectrometry
What If Computers Could Smell?

April 3, 2025

13 min read

Computers can “see” and “hear,” but fully digitizing scent has so far eluded science – but that may soon change

The Analytical Scientist Innovation Awards 2024: #6
Mass Spectrometry
The Analytical Scientist Innovation Awards 2024: #6

December 3, 2024

3 min read

Syft Technologies’ William Pelet introduces the Syft Explorer – the world's first fully mobile, real-time, and direct trace gas analyzer

The Analytical Scientist Innovation Awards 2024: #4
Mass Spectrometry
The Analytical Scientist Innovation Awards 2024: #4

December 5, 2024

6 min read

Thermo Fisher Scientific’s high-sensitivity mass spec for translational omics research – the Stellar MS – is ranked 4th in our annual Innovation Awards

False

The Analytical Scientist
Subscribe

About

  • About Us
  • Work at Conexiant Europe
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Advertise With Us
  • Contact Us

Copyright © 2025 Texere Publishing Limited (trading as Conexiant), with registered number 08113419 whose registered office is at Booths No. 1, Booths Park, Chelford Road, Knutsford, England, WA16 8GS.