Small molecules (or chemicals) play a crucial role in biological systems, acting as precursors to macromolecules, cells, and tissues. Beyond this, they are involved in cell signalling, regulation, energy consumption and production, and can be used therapeutically to treat diseases. 

To understand the role of chemicals in a biological context, we can study how they bind to and impact the function of their macromolecular targets, such as DNA, RNA, and protein. To better capture and standardise the nature of the chemical-protein interactions, and to place these in a broader context, we can use relevant annotations and classifications.

This six-hour virtual workshop offers hands-on experience with EMBL-EBI tools and resources to explore the biological interactions of small molecules with protein targets. Using case studies, we will guide you through workflows to investigate drug interactions with a protein target, and to standardise and annotate these interactions using dedicated protein and chemistry classification resources. 

We will primarily use ChEMBL to identify small molecule drugs and experimental data describing their impact on targets and PDBe to evaluate target binding details. To classify these compound-protein interactions, we’ll use ChEBI and UniProt for chemical and protein annotations, respectively.

Virtual course

This course will take place on Zoom. Trainers will be available to assist during practical sessions, answer questions, and provide further explanations during the Zoom. 

To join the course you will need to create a free EMBL-EBI Training website account.