Detection of potential enzyme targets by metabolic modelling and optimization: Application to a simple enzymopathy

A very promising approach in drug discovery involves the integration of available biomedical data through mathematical modelling and data mining. We have developed a method called optimization program for drug discovery (OPDD) that allows new enzyme targets to be identified in enzymopathies through the integration of metabolic models and biomedical data in a mathematical optimization program. The method involves four steps: (i) collection of the necessary information about the metabolic system and disease; (ii) translation of the information into mathematical terms; (iii) computation of the optimization programs prioritizing the solutions that propose the inhibition of a reduced number of enzymes and (iv) application of additional biomedical criteria to select and classify the solutions. Each solution consists of a set of predicted values for metabolites, initial substrates and enzyme activities, which describe a biologically acceptable steady state of the system that shifts the pathologic state towards a healthy state.