Computer assisted searches for drug targets with emphasis on malarial proteases and their inhibitors

The creation of databases that make enormous and diverse amounts of information available, the coding of algorithms that allow the collection and investigation of these data and the wide availability of desktop computers capable of handling the data and running the algorithms have set the stage for innovative approaches to drug target identification. Here we review the main currents in this new field, providing an overview of some of the databases and software used to generate and shorten the lists of potential drug targets using in silico methods. As a case study, we look at the identification and investigation of malarial proteases as therapeutic targets in the Plasmodium spp. parasites.