Structure-based design of small-molecule protein-protein interaction modulators: the story so far

As the pivotal role of protein-protein interactions in cell growth, transcriptional activity, intracellular trafficking, signal transduction and pathological conditions has been assessed, experimental and in silico strategies have been developed to design protein-protein interaction modulators. State-of-the-art structure-based design methods, mainly pharmacophore modeling and docking, which have succeeded in the identification of enzyme inhibitors, receptor agonists and antagonists, and new tools specifically conceived to target protein-protein interfaces (e.g., hot-spot and druggable pocket prediction methods) have been applied in the search for small-molecule protein-protein interaction modulators. Many successful applications of structure-based design approaches that, despite the challenge of targeting protein-protein interfaces with small molecules, have led to the identification of micromolar and submicromolar hits are reviewed here.