Emerging new technologies in Pharmacogenomics: rapid SNP detection, molecular dynamic simulation, and QSAR analysis...

Pharmacogenomics, the study of the influence of genetic factors on drug action, is increasingly important for predicting pharmacokinetics profiles and/or adverse reactions to drugs. Drug transporters as well as drug-metabolism play pivotal roles in determining the pharmacokinetic profiles of drugs and, by extension, their overall pharmacological effects. There are an increasing number of reports addressing genetic polymorphisms of drug transporters. A key requirement for the development of individualized medicine or personalized therapy is the ability to rapidly and conveniently test patients for genetic polymorphisms and/or mutations. We have recently developed a rapid and cost-effective method for single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) detection, named Smart Amplification Process 2 (SmartAmp2), which enables us to detect genetic polymorphisms or mutations in 30 to 45min under isothermal conditions without DNA isolation and PCR amplification. Furthermore, high-speed functional screening, quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) analysis, and molecular dynamic (MD) simulation methods have been developed to study the substrate specificity of ABC transporters and to evaluate the effect of genetic polymorphisms on their function and substrate specificity. These methods would provide powerful and practical tools for screening synthetic and natural compounds, and the deduced data can be applied to the molecular design of new drugs. This review addresses such new methods for validating genetic polymorphisms of human ABC transporter ABCB1 (P-gp/MDR1) which is critically involved in the pharmacokinetics of drugs.