PRISM BioLab Blog – PPI Pursuit
Commentary on Protein-Protein and Protein-Peptide Interactions, peptidomimetics and related topics in drug discovery.

This review¹⁾ summarizes the recent status of peptide-based therapeutics research in the discovery stage and peptide related technologies in a simple fashion. It helps scientist in a variety of levels to achieve better understanding of peptide drug discovery issues as well. Peptides are among the classical and ubiquitous chemical types in the small-molecule world. Distinct and attractive nature of peptides...

Prediction of molecular interactions are becoming sophisticated and trustworthy and sometimes makes a contribution for decision making in drug discovery projects. Virtual screening of protein-ligand complexes has been the most focus area of in silico methodology to approach the protein of interest and used for selection of compounds to be assayed. However, the predicted docking...

Considerable efforts have been focused on cancer treatment for decades in a global sense. However, cancer is still a top target that necessitates us to deliver more effective and safer drugs to the patients. Here is a recent review on peptidomimetics in cancer targeting.¹⁾ This review would allow us better understanding of the potential of peptidomimetics in the field of cancer and also other diseases...

Bioisosteres are defined as “compounds or groups that possesses near-equal molecular shapes and volumes, approximately the same distribution of electrons, and which exhibit similar physical properties.”¹⁾ To say more simply, they are mimics of the original group. Hence, there is still a wide possibility of design and development of a new bioisostere for various functional groups...

Here is a review of 50 approved drugs in the US.¹⁾ In 2021, 29 small-molecule drugs appeared in the fields of oncologic, CNS, anti-infective etc.. This review is significantly stimulating for chemistry folks because the synthetic routes of small-molecule drugs are summarized in a simple fashion. Scientists would enjoy the art of synthetic schemes, which...

Visual analysis of proteins and molecule structures is a powerful methodology for better understanding and prediction of potential interactions and drug designs. In the field of PPIs, structural information of peptidomimetics is crucial for rapid drug discovery through designing a precise mimic of a protein or a peptide of interest. We developed two distinctive and...

Novel technologies and strategies bring up beautiful sprouts of innovation. In our recent paper1, a two-step strategy for designing a small molecule was demonstrated by collaboration with GeneFrontier through the integration of respective technologies. This is a fantastic example of synergy creation, leveraging each strength to develop a new and practical strategy. GeneFrontier has unique...

PPI-targeted drug discovery strategy is intriguing field. Target identification and functional modulation are crucial for new drug discovery and development. Assay development, technological improvements of structural biology and bioinformatics allowed us to rapidly identify the target so far, even though there are still challenges. Target-based drug discovery is a current standard, and a project often...

How do you think about PPI? It’s of interest by many pharmaceutical companies as well as scientists for long but few drugs have developed so far. PPI field is still a chaos and needs more intensive research. We are trying to establish a confirmed PPI drug discovery & development methodology as a leading company. Protein-protein...

Transition from a macrocyclic peptide to a small molecule with the desired activity is still a huge challenge in drug discovery and development. Here is an interesting strategy “Peptide-to-Small Molecule” developed by Shionogi Pharma Co., Ltd., where small molecules are generated by pharmacophore-guided de novo design from macrocyclic peptides.1 Macrocyclic peptides are goldmines for drug...