Title:Targeting Protein-Protein Interaction with Covalent Small-Molecule Inhibitors
Volume: 19
Issue: 21
Author(s): Bingbing Li, Deqin Rong and Yuanxiang Wang*
Affiliation:
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Chiral Molecule and Drug Discovery, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510006,China
Keywords:
Protein-protein interaction, covalent inhibitor, cysteine, lysine, methionine, GPCR.
Abstract: PPIs are involved in diverse biochemical events and perform their functions through the formation
of protein-protein complexes or PPI networks. The large and flat interacting surfaces of PPIs
make discovery of small-molecule modulators a challenging task. New strategies and more effective
chemical technologies are needed to facilitate the development of PPIs small-molecule inhibitors. Covalent
modification of a nucleophilic residue located proximally to the immediate vicinity of PPIs can
overcome the disadvantages of large interacting surfaces and provides high-affinity inhibitors with increased
duration of action and prolonged target modulation. On the other hand, covalent inhibitors that
target non-conserved protein residues demonstrate improved selectivity over related protein family
members. Herein, we highlight the latest progress of small-molecule covalent PPIs inhibitors and hope
to shed light on future PPIs inhibitor design and development. The relevant challenges and opportunities
are also discussed.