Small molecule
hideIn pharmacology and biochemistry, a small molecule is an organic compound that is not a polymer. Biopolymers such as nucleic acids, proteins, and polysaccharides (such as starch or cellulose) are not small molecules, although their constituent monomers—ribo- or deoxyribonucleotides, amino acids, and monosaccharides, respectively—are often considered to be. Very small oligomers are also usually considered small molecules, such as dinucleotides, peptides such as the antioxidant glutathione, and disaccharides such as sucrose.
While small molecules almost always have a lower molecular weight than biopolymers, a very small protein with a defined fold, such as the artificial ten-amino-acid protein chignolin[1], can indeed be smaller than some exceptionally large small molecules such as triglycerides.
Small molecules can have a variety of biological functions, serving as cell signalling molecules, as tools in molecular biology, as drugs in medicine, and in countless other roles. These compounds can be natural (such as secondary metabolites) or artificial (such as antiviral drugs); they may have a beneficial effect against a disease (such as FDA approved drugs) or may be detrimental (such as teratogens and carcinogens).
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News tagged with small molecules
Small molecules block cancer gene
Mar 10, 2009 |
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Finding molecules that block the activity of the oncogene Stat 3 (signal transducer and activator of transcription) required screening literally millions of compounds, using computers that compared the structure of the cancer-causing ...
Researchers find new molecule to block ‘Hedgehog’ signaling in cancer, development
Biology /
Jan 19, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have achieved a feat drug developers had thought difficult, if not impossible, discovering a compound that blocks the functioning of a key developmental protein by binding to an “undruggable” ...
Scientists Discover An Ancient Odor-Detecting Mechanism in Insects
Biology /
Jan 08, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- In 1913 Theodore Roosevelt added cartographer to his resume when he and his crew ventured up an unspeakably dangerous and uncharted tributary named the River of Doubt. Now, on a charting expedition ...
Both theories about human cellular aging supported by new research
Biology /
Dec 16, 2008 |
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Aging yeast cells accumulate damage over time, but they do so by following a pattern laid down earlier in their life by diet as well as the genes that control metabolism and the dynamics of cell structures such as mitochondria, ...
Researchers Studying Little-Known Genetic Sequences
Biology /
Nov 13, 2008 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- University of Arizona researchers are among a group of scientists who have discovered a source of previously scarce small RNA molecules. Their finding, which was recently published in the Proceedings of th ...
Scientists identify compounds for stem-cell production from adult cells
Biology /
Nov 05, 2008 |
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In the study, the scientists screened known drugs and identified small molecules that could replace conventional reprogramming genes, which can have dangerous side effects. This new process offers a new way to generate stem ...
Scientists identify novel inhibitor of human microRNA
Sep 25, 2008 |
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Scientists at The Wistar Institute and their colleagues have identified, for the first time, a molecule that can regulate microRNAs – short strands of RNA that play a vital role in gene expression and are closely associated ...
