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Updated: Jun 27, 2025

Author Spotlight: Streamlining Protein Target Prediction and Validation via Molecular Docking and CETSA
Published on: February 23, 2024
Recent advances in computational and experimental protein-ligand affinity determination techniques
Visvaldas Kairys1, Lina Baranauskiene2, Migle Kazlauskiene3
1Department of Bioinformatics, Institute of Biotechnology, Life Sciences Center, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania.
Introduction:
Modern drug discovery revolves around designing ligands that target the chosen biomolecule, typically proteins. For this, the evaluation of affinities of putative ligands is crucial. This has given rise to a multitude of dedicated computational and experimental methods that are constantly being developed and improved.
Areas Covered:
In this review, the authors reassess both the industry mainstays and the newest trends among the methods for protein - small-molecule affinity determination. They discuss both computational affinity predictions and experimental techniques, describing their basic principles, main limitations, and advantages. Together, this serves as initial guide to the currently most popular and cutting-edge ligand-binding assays employed in rational drug design.
Expert Opinion:
The affinity determination methods continue to develop toward miniaturization, high-throughput, and in-cell application. Moreover, the availability of data analysis tools has been constantly increasing. Nevertheless, cross-verification of data using at least two different techniques and careful result interpretation remain of utmost importance.
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