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Designing Molecular Spanners to Throw in the Protein Networks
Author(s) -
Serapian Stefano A.,
Colombo Giorgio
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
chemistry – a european journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.687
H-Index - 242
eISSN - 1521-3765
pISSN - 0947-6539
DOI - 10.1002/chem.201904523
Subject(s) - allosteric regulation , computational biology , downregulation and upregulation , protein–protein interaction , chemistry , drug discovery , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , receptor , biochemistry , gene
Proteins govern most aspects of cellular life and, through specific interfaces, are typically involved in intricate protein–protein interaction (PPI) networks and signaling pathways. Subtle up‐ or downregulation of key protein functions and PPIs results in disease; still, the preferred option to contrast the role of a protein in disease and healthy conditions alike remains its outright shutdown through orthosteric ligands that block its active site. Here, we explore subtler alternatives to modulate proteins and PPIs. Driven by a view of proteins as dynamic entities, we discuss ways to identify allosteric binding sites, which, when targeted by tailored ligands, can induce significant changes in the active site of a protein, and lead to agonistic or antagonistic effects. We also summarize the selective regulation of specific PPIs—either direct or allosteric—and show that effects can be stabilizing as well as destabilizing, depending on how the conformational equilibrium of a protein is shifted.