Using Cheminformatics for the Identification of Biological Functions of Small Molecules in Metabolic Pathway

Small molecules are involved in metabolic pathways responsible for many biological activities. Therefore it is essential to study them to uncover the unknown biological function of highly complex living systems. It is a crucial step in modern drug discovery to correctly and effectively discover small molecules’ biological function since small molecules are related to many protein functions and biological processes. This paper presents the application of cheminformatics approaches in predicting small molecule’s (ligand’s) biological function in metabolic pathway. Many examples of success in identification and prediction in the area of small molecule metabolic pathway mapping and small molecule-protein interaction prediction have been discussed. Keywords: Cheminformatics, small molecule, biological function, metabolic pathway, small molecule-protein interaction.