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Researchers are looking for new applications for already approved drugs

16.05.2019

Breathe, think or hear - almost all the vital functions of our body depend on ion channels functioning properly.

Defects in these proteins, caused by point mutations, can trigger many hereditary diseases. Researchers from the Faculty of Life Sciences at the University of Vienna and the Medical Center of the University of Utrecht are developing computer-aided methods to analyze the efficacy of already approved drugs for new applications in the area of ​​rare genetic disorders. The results were recently published in the renowned journal "Frontiers in Pharmacology".

Xingyu Chen, Arthur Garon, Marcus Wieder, Marien Houtman, Eva-Maria Zangerl-Plessl, Thierry Langer, Marcel van der Heyden, Anna Stary-Weinzinger: Computational identification of novel Kir6 channel inhibitors. Frontiers in Pharmacology DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2019.00549

A rosiglitazone molecule bound to an ion channel. Anna Weinzinger and her team used this drug to find new therapeutic options for rare ion channel diseases (© Anna Weinzinger).