Analyzing Kinase Similarity in Small Molecule and Protein Structural Space to Explore the Limits of Multi-Target Screening.

While selective inhibition is one of the key assets for a small molecule drug, many diseases can only be tackled by simultaneous inhibition of several proteins. An example where achieving selectivity is especially challenging are ligands targeting human kinases. This difficulty arises from the high structural conservation of the kinase ATP binding sites, the area targeted by most inhibitors.

Surprising Non-Additivity of Methyl Groups in Drug-Kinase Interaction.

Drug optimization is guided by biophysical methods with increasing popularity. In the context of lead structure modifications, the introduction of methyl groups is a simple but potentially powerful approach. Hence, it is crucial to systematically investigate the influence of ligand methylation on biophysical characteristics such as thermodynamics.

Cosolvent-Enhanced Sampling and Unbiased Identification of Cryptic Pockets Suitable for Structure-Based Drug Design.

Modulating protein activity with small-molecules binding to cryptic pockets offers great opportunities to overcome hurdles in drug design. Cryptic sites are atypical binding sites in proteins that are closed in the absence of a stabilizing ligand and are thus inherently difficult to identify. Many studies have proposed methods to predict cryptic sites.

Converging a Knowledge-Based Scoring Function: DrugScore.

We present DrugScore, a new version of the knowledge-based scoring function DrugScore, which builds upon the same formalism used to derive DrugScore but exploits a training data set of nearly 40 000 X-ray complex structures, a highly diverse and the, by far, largest data set ever used for such an endeavor. About 2.5 times as many pair potentials than before now have a data basis required to yield smooth potentials, and pair potentials could now be derived for eight more atom types, including interactions involving halogen atoms and metal ions highly relevant for medicinal chemistry.

Similarity- and Substructure-Based Development of β-Adrenergic Receptor Ligands Based on Unusual Scaffolds.

The β-adrenergic receptor (βAR) is a G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) and a well-explored target. Here, we report the discovery of 13 ligands, ten of which are novel, of this particular GPCR. They have been identified by similarity- and substructure-based searches using multiple ligands, which were described in an earlier study, as starting points.

Drugging specific conformational states of GPCRs: challenges and opportunities for computational chemistry.

Current advances in structural biology for membrane proteins support the existence of multiple Gprotein-coupled receptor (GPCR) conformations. These conformations can be associated to particular receptor states with definite coupling and signaling capacities. Drugging such receptor states represents an opportunity to discover a new generation of GPCR drugs with unprecedented specificity.

Identifying modulators of CXC receptors 3 and 4 with tailored selectivity using multi-target docking.

The G protein-coupled receptors of the C-X-C subfamily form a group among the chemokine receptors whose endogenous ligands are peptides with a common Cys-X-Cys motif. The CXC chemokine receptors 3 and 4 (CXCR3, CXCR4), which are investigated in this study, are linked to severe diseases such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, and HIV infections. Of particular interest, this receptor pair potentially forms a target for a polypharmacological drug treatment.

Deep sequencing-based identification of small non-coding RNAs in Streptomyces coelicolor.

Streptomyces coelicolor is considered the model organism among Gram positive, GC rich bacteria. Its genome has been sequenced but little is known about the occurrence and distribution of small non-coding RNAs in this biotechnologically relevant organism. Using deep sequencing we analyzed the transcriptome at the end of exponential growth, which corresponds to the onset of secondary metabolism.