Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Network pharmacology

Nature Biotechnology volume 25, pages 1110–1111 (2007)Cite this article

Network biology illuminates our understanding of drug action.

The common analogy of drug action is that of a lock and key, with a drug acting as a selective 'key' that fits into the 'lock' of a specific drug target. Over the past two decades, the concept of designing exquisitely selective ligands to avoid unwanted side effects has become the predominant paradigm in drug discovery. However, a growing body of post-genomic biology is revealing a far more complex picture of drug action. An elegant new study by Yıldırım et al.1 in this issue illustrates not only that there are many keys for each lock but also that it is far more common than expected for a single key to fit multiple locks. Viewing drug action through the lens of network biology may provide insights into how we can improve drug discovery for complex diseases.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Network pharmacology.

References

  1. Yıldırım, M.A., Goh, K.-I., Cusick, M.E., Barabási, A.-L. & Vidal, M. Nat. Biotechnol. 25, 1119–1126 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Roth, B.L., Sheffler, D.J. & Kroeze, W.K. Nat. Rev. Drug Discov. 3, 353–359 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Paolini, G.V., Shapland, R.H., van Hoorn, W.P., Mason, J.S. & Hopkins, A.L. Nat. Biotechnol. 24, 805–815 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Barabasi, A.L. & Oltvai, Z.N. Nat. Rev. Genet. 5, 101–113 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Wishart, D. et al. Nucleic Acids Res. 34, D668–D672 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Goh, K.-I. et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 104, 8685–8690 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Hopkins, A.L., Mason, J.S. & Overington, J.P. Curr. Opin. Struct. Biol. 16, 127–136 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Morphy, R. & Rankovic, Z. Drug Discov. Today 12, 156–60 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Keiser, M.J. et al. Nat. Biotechnol. 25, 197–206 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Andrew L. Hopkins is in the Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dow Street, Dundee, DD1 5EH, United Kingdom. a.hopkins@dundee.ac.uk,

    Andrew L Hopkins

Authors
  1. Andrew L Hopkins
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hopkins, A. Network pharmacology. Nat Biotechnol 25, 1110–1111 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt1007-1110

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt1007-1110

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing