Sigma-Aldrich launches biological pathway tool
biological pathways that provides an online resource to those in
the drug industry interested in first-in-class range, including
small molecules, antibodies, enzymes, QPCR components and siRNA is
for gene knockdown.
"As we move from genome to proteome to fully integrative biological approaches, the importance of exploring and exploiting the interrelationships of cell signalling and metabolic pathways in both basic and drug discovery research is increasing," said Keith Watling, director of marketing, cell signalling at Sigma-Aldrich.
Sigma-Aldrich aim to meet this need with the launch of PathFinder as drug developers struggle under the sheer weight of data generated as a result of investigations into these pathways. The PathFinder hopes to ease this data overload by providing a central database of the most relevant information sources.
PathFinder contains biological signalling and metabolic pathways in an interactive, graphical representation of the cell that researchers can use to explore the relationships between different pathway components.
"Our online PathFinder resource provides a tool to help integrate products across complex signalling and metabolic pathways," said Watling.
"It will help users visualise the components involved, along with the links between pathways, and will build a valuable tool to accelerate the pace of discovery."
Watling added it would also provide scientists with a quick overview of pathways they were working on, enabling them to find products for their target molecules efficiently and with relevant additional information.
Additional support for the researcher is provided through links to product descriptions and technical articles.
PathFinder, which was developed in conjunction with bioinformatics specialist Protein Lounge, will be launched initially with some 20 pathways. Once completed later this year, the application will contain over 100 signal transduction pathways.
To learn more about PathFinder, please visit Sigma-Aldrich at the Experimental Biology Conference in San Francisco April 1-5, 2006, at booth #522 or >online.
