Bernard Thorens

The European Drug Initiative on Channels and Transporters, EDICT, allies, for the first time, partners with world-class expertise in both the structural and functional characterisation of membrane transporters and channels. State-of-the-art facilities and personnel for X-ray crystallography, Electron Microscopy and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and the latest high throughput technology, will provide infrastructure for scientists characterising channel and transporter functions in man and pathogenic microorganisms.

Our experts in the analyses of all the databases of these membrane proteins and molecular modelling will work with our industrial partners on specific targets chosen for their potential to improve the health of European citizens, increase the competitiveness of European health-related industries and businesses, and address global health issues.

EDICT will increase knowledge of biological processes and mechanisms involved in normal health and in specific disease situations, and transpose this knowledge into clinical applications. By combining computational and experimental analyses, existing detailed molecular models of channel and transporter proteins, and novel structures derived by our partners, will be analysed to identify the critical regions constituting drug targets.