The traditional drug development process takes decades: synthesis, random screening, errors, and years of refinement. The Union Biomembranes program aims to halve this time, and the leading role in accelerating this process is played by the United Institute for Informatics Problems of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, which is working on a computational platform that, in simple terms, recreates living cell conditions in silico. Scientists will model the behavior of unstable protein complexes and explore new applications for the treatment of cancer, autoimmune, and neurodegenerative diseases.

The focus of this research is membrane proteins involved in the regulation of cellular processes and disease development mechanisms. The goal of the program is to identify promising molecular targets for the development of new drugs.

The scientific complexity of this work lies primarily in the fact that the structure and function of membrane proteins are significantly dependent on their natural lipid environment. Outside the cell membrane, many of them lose stability and native conformation, complicating their isolation, structural characterization, and experimental study.

Our institute's goal in this process is to create a computational platform for the structural and molecular modeling of membrane proteins and their complexes. Using bioinformatics and chemoinformatics methods, scientists will explore potential binding sites and evaluate interactions with libraries of chemical compounds. The most promising targets and candidate molecules will be submitted for experimental validation and subsequent drug development.

This multi-stage project is designed to last five years, and the Union State's "Soyuz-Biomembranes" program was launched this spring. IT science is becoming the primary tool for the Union State's pharmaceutical industry.