Target Protein

The term "Target Protein" is a generic descriptor used in pharmacology and molecular biology to refer to any functional biomolecule (typically a protein) that is the specific object of a drug's action or a biological study (4.2.1, 4.2.3). It does not refer to a single, specific protein entity with a unique sequence or gene locus. In drug discovery, a target protein is defined by its role in a disease mechanism and its ability to be modulated by a therapeutic agent to produce a clinical effect (5.2.1, 6.2.1). Because "Target Protein" is a general category rather than a specific molecular target, it lacks unique biological functions, disease roles, or specific interacting drugs outside of the context of a particular study or drug development program (4.3.4, 5.2.5). Specific examples of proteins with "target" in their name include the "Mechanistic target of rapamycin" (mTOR) and "Myc target protein 1" (MYCT1), but these are distinct from the generic placeholder term (4.1.2, 5.3.4).

Other names

Biological targetDrug targetMolecular target

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