Applications of Neural Networks in the Medicinal Chemistry Field

Abstract

Since the early nineties the number of scientific papers dealing with the applications of artificial neural networks (ANNs) in medicinal chemistry and medicine fields has been dramatically increasing. In this review, the applications of artificial neural networks in QSAR, concerning the classification or prediction of a biological activity, conformation searching, receptor docking and molecular design, are reviewed over the last five years. The different models of neural network used, the selection of descriptors, the comparison of results obtained by employing ANNs and other computational methods in QSAR studies, are commented. An overview of the new computer program (CODES) to generate molecular descriptors by encoding organic molecules, which are useful inputs of neural networks, is provided.