A Similarity Search Using Molecular Topological Graphs

A molecular similarity measure has been developed using molecular topological graphs and atomic partial charges. Two kinds of topological graphs were used. One is the ordinary adjacency matrix and the other is a matrix which represents the minimum path length between two atoms of the molecule. The ordinary adjacency matrix is suitable to compare the local structures of molecules such as functional groups, and the other matrix is suitable to compare the global structures of molecules. The combination of these two matrices gave a similarity measure. This method was applied to in silico drug screening, and the results showed that it was effective as a similarity measure. Copyright (C) 2009 Y. Fukunishi and H. Nakamura.