7th Annual Protein-Protein Interactions

Targeting the non-catalytic site of protein-protein interactions (PPIs) with small molecules has enabled drug discovery to move beyond the typical enzyme targets such as proteases and kinases and address disease-state relevant regulatory complexes of biological processes such as intracellular signal transduction, transcription, immuno-modulation, epigenetic modifications and protein stability.

However targeting PPIs pose unique challenges because the targets’ structure (an interaction site between two proteins) is often not known and is usually a larger area with different physico-chemical properties than a ‘catalytic site’. Cambridge Healthtech Institute’s seventh annual Protein-Protein Interactions meeting will highlight the different disease areas where targeting PPIs is showing promise and will bring colleagues together to discuss lead optimization challenges for the medicinal chemist. Hear case studies of PPI-targeted compounds that are progressing in drug development or not, with a focus on the kinds of roadblocks the compounds encountered.