The Drug Discovery Portal (DDP) provides users with the opportunity to identify novel druggable hits against their target of choice through virtual screening.
Drug discovery researchers can use DDP to virtual screen compounds against a target of their choice. Where 3D structural information about the target is available the screening is done through a variety of docking techniques. Otherwise a pharmacophore is constructed and this is used to screen the compound databases. DDP can focus on primary sites or potential allosteric binding sites for screening.
There are several compund collections available to screen through the DDP including the Academic Compound Collection, Natural Products Collection, and Commercial Collection.
Synthetic chemists can now use the new web based interface to deposit their structures into the Academic Compound Collection within the DDP. The compound becomes part of a unique database which is available for virtual screening. The compounds in the academic database are linked to real samples and can be physically obtained if they come up active as a hit.
Where an in silico hit is identified both the originating chemist and the party requesting screening are contacted providing an opportunity for collaboration between those parties.
