SAR by NMR

Synonyms

NMR; Structure-activity relationship by NMR

Definition

Structure-activity relationship (SAR) by NMR is a technique developed in 1996 by Stephen Fesik at Abbot Laboratories. SAR by NMR is the first experimental demonstration of the fragment-based approach to drug discovery. The method uses NMR spectroscopy to probe the surface area surrounding a protein’s active site for ligand binders. A small, structurally diverse chemical library is screened by NMR with the goal of identifying ligands that bind proximal to each other in the protein’s active site. Chemically linking these small chemical building blocks is generally expected to yield potent molecules that can be evolved into a drug. SAR by NMR is considered to be a protein-targeted approach to NMR drug discoverysince the protein’s NMR spectrum is monitored for evidence of ligand binding. The target protein restricts the application of SAR by NMR since the method is limited by protein size (typically <40 kDa), requires a few...