Aspartic Acid Proteases as Therapeutic Targets

This is the first-ever guide to protease inhibitor drug design, tying together the knowledge gained from numerous recently developed protease drugs in a single source. The first part provides a general introduction to the protease family, including its physiological functions and molecular structure. A discussion of the molecular mechanism leads on to the rational design of inhibitors, which is covered in the second part. The third and largest section presents various case studies of successful protease inhibitor drug development programs, as well as current uses of such inhibitors in pharmaceutical medicine. A ready reference aimed primarily at professionals in the pharmaceutical industry, as well as for anyone studying proteases and their function.

Arun K. Ghosh studied chemistry at the University of Calcutta and the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. He obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Pittsburgh and pursued post-doctoral research at Harvard University. He was a research fellow at Merck Research Laboratories prior to joining the University of Illinois, Chicago as an assistant Professor in 1994. In 2005, he moved to Purdue University where he is currently the Ian P. Rothwell Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Medicinal Chemistry. His notable honors include, Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award, Robert Scarborough Medicinal Chemistry Award, American Association for the Advancement of Science, University of Illinois University Scholar, National Merit Scholar of India. He has published over 200 research papers and holds numerous patents. Professor Ghosh's research interests include diverse areas of organic, bioorganic and medicinal chemistry with particular emphasis on organic synthesis and protein-structure-based design of biomolecules.