[Structure and activity: the joining of two methods].

Abstract

The article describes the methods by which the structure/activity relationships are established: search for similarities, classification or modeling, using neural nets or pure mathematical procedures. In this way, contents and forms of these relationships are brought to the fore. Next, and more specifically for the relationships coming from modeling, generalisation limits (inter/extrapolations) are specified. The introduction of a mechanism of action is examined too, and, particularly, its usefulness in the pharmaceutical research, as it exists presently or may be foreseen in the next future. Finally, a mechanism of action, based on a transfer model and privileging dynamic aspects, is proposed, in opposition to the most current ideas focused on the fixation of the drug on the receptor.