What is chemical genetics?
Chemical genetics is the first step in the drug discovery process that involved chemicals or small molecule screenings to determine these chemicals potential to produce results for use in biological research (1). To get these results an array is dotted with a nano-liter of different chemicals. Then a small molecule or protein is run over the chemicals on the array to see if any bind to any of the different chemicals on the plate (2). Then from these basic research findings the results can go on to start to develop drugs (1). Here is a link to a video to watch that is easier to visualize how small molecule arrays work which leads to identifying a chemical that could potentially be used for a drug.
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Is chemical genetics involved with FLNB?
To determine if FLNB is involved in chemical genetics or of there are any chemicals that interact with FLNB, I started my search on PubChem. PubChem came up with no results in relation to FLNB, so I continued my search to ChemBank. On ChemBank, I searched by molecule name to try to make my search more focused to FLNB. I received the same results on ChemBank as I did with PubChem by getting absolutely no results.
Analysis:
I looked at PubChem and Chembank for any chemicals found in relation to FLNB and the databases found nothing. This is probably because Larsen Syndrome is a rare disorder and there are no known cures or medications given to those diagnosed. As of today, there is not anything that can fix what the abnormal FLNB protein does to the actin cytoskeleton organization that leads to the large joint dislocations. The most common fix to the most severe joint and bone developmental issues that arise is surgery.
References:
1.) "Chemical Genomics at Sanford-Burnham: Reinventing how new drugs are discovered". Web. May 16, 2104. http://www.sanfordburnham.org/technology/centers/cpccg/Pages/Home.aspx
2.) "HHMI: Small-Molecule Microarrays". Web. May 16, 2014. http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/small-molecule-microarrays
2.) "HHMI: Small-Molecule Microarrays". Web. May 16, 2014. http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/small-molecule-microarrays