Offering the full range of contraceptive options: a survey of interest in vasectomy training in the US family planning community.

Objective: To assess current practices regarding female and male sterilization counseling and provision, as well as determine interest in providing vasectomy among family planning specialists.

Methods: Members of the US-based network of family planning fellowship physicians (current fellows, graduates and faculty) received a Web-based survey from November 2015 through January 2016 regarding current sterilization preferences and practices, as well as interest in obtaining training in vasectomy counseling and procedure.

Results: Nearly 60% (n=178/302) of family planning fellowship providers responded to the survey.

Assessing helical protein interfaces for inhibitor design.

Structure-based design of synthetic inhibitors of protein-protein interactions (PPIs) requires adept molecular design and synthesis strategies as well as knowledge of targetable complexes. To address the significant gap between the elegant design of helix mimetics and their sporadic use in biology, we analyzed the full set of helical protein interfaces in the Protein Data Bank to obtain a snapshot of how helices that are critical for complex formation interact with the partner proteins. The results of this study are expected to guide the systematic design of synthetic inhibitors of PPIs.

Systematic analysis of helical protein interfaces reveals targets for synthetic inhibitors.

Synthetic inhibitors of protein-protein interactions are being discovered despite the inherent challenge in targeting large contact surfaces with small molecules. An analysis of available examples identifies common features of complexes that make them tractable for small molecules. We deduced that relative disposition and energetic contributions of "hot spot" residues provide a predictive scale for the potential of protein-protein interactions to be inhibited by small molecules.

Evaluation of triazolamers as active site inhibitors of HIV-1 protease.

Proteases typically recognize their peptide substrates in extended conformations. General approaches for designing protease inhibitors often consist of peptidomimetics that feature this conformation. Herein we discuss a combination of computational and experimental studies to evaluate the potential of triazole-linked beta-strand mimetics as inhibitors of HIV-1 protease activity.

Assessment of helical interfaces in protein-protein interactions.

Herein we identify and analyze helical protein interfaces as potential targets for synthetic modulators of protein-protein interactions.

Contemporary strategies for the stabilization of peptides in the alpha-helical conformation.

Herein we review contemporary synthetic and protein design strategies to stabilize the alpha-helical motif in short peptides and miniature proteins. Advances in organometallic catalyst design, specifically for the olefin metathesis reaction, enable the use of hydrocarbon bridges to either crosslink side chains of specific residues or mimic intramolecular hydrogen bonds with carbon-carbon bonds. The resulting hydrocarbon-stapled and hydrogen bond surrogate alpha-helices provide unique synthetic ligands for targeting biomolecules.

A hydrogen bond surrogate approach for stabilization of short peptide sequences in alpha-helical conformation.

Alpha-helices constitute the largest class of protein secondary structures and play a major role in mediating protein-protein interactions. Development of stable mimics of short alpha-helices would be invaluable for inhibition of protein-protein interactions. This Account describes our efforts in developing a general approach for constraining short peptides in alpha-helical conformations by a main-chain hydrogen bond surrogate (HBS) strategy.