Many infectious bacteria are difficult to eliminate without causing harm to the host organism as well, such as several species of the genus Leishmania for which chemotherapy has long been the only effective treatment (Kumari et al. 2008). Proteomics has led to the development of other drugs that work to inhibit certain protein and protease production processes in the bacteria, leading to their eradication without the harsh and host-harming toxicity of chemotherapy (Kumari et al. 2008). Other forms of chemotherapy specifically targeting specific protease substances have also been developed through an application of proteomics, suggesting still more avenues for research and pharmaceutical development utilizing the chemical knowledge and awareness gained from the study of proteins (Heal et al. 2008). As the substrates of proteases are better understood, methods have been developed to target specific proteases or families of proteases, making specific...
2008).
Proteomics is still a developing and even an expanding area of biomedical research. As understandings continue to become more refined, the efficacy of the drugs developed through proteomic endeavors will also continue to improve. This in turn leads to a better overall understanding of disease and wellness.
References
Heal, W.; Wickramasinghe, S. & Tate, W. (2008). "Activity-Based Chemical Proteomics: Profiling Proteases as Drug Targets." Current drug discovery technologies 5(3), pp. 200-12.
Kumari, S.; Kumar, A.; Samant, M.; Singh, N. & Dube, A. (2008). "Discovery of Novel Vaccine Candidates and Drug Targets Against Visceral Leishmaniasis Using Proteomics and Transcriptomics." Current drug targets 9(11), pp. 938-47.
Golde, T. & Kukar, T. (2009). "Avoiding Unintended Toxicity." Science…
