The 17 EFMC Short Course on Medicinal Chemistry on Small Molecule Protein Degraders.

The 17 EFMC Short Course on Medicinal Chemistry took place April 23-26, 2023 in Oegstgeest, near Leiden in the Netherlands. It covered for the first time the exciting topic of Targeted Protein Degradation (full title: Small Molecule Protein Degraders: A New Opportunity for Drug Design and Development). The course was oversubscribed, with 35 attendees and 6 instructors mainly from Europe but also from the US and South Africa, and representing both industry and academia.

Discovery and Characterization of a Cryptic Secondary Binding Site in the Molecular Chaperone HSP70.

Heat Shock Protein 70s (HSP70s) are key molecular chaperones that are overexpressed in many cancers and often associated with metastasis and poor prognosis. It has proven difficult to develop ATP-competitive, drug-like small molecule inhibitors of HSP70s due to the flexible and hydrophilic nature of the HSP70 ATP-binding site and its high affinity for endogenous nucleotides. The aim of this study was to explore the potential for the inhibition of HSP70 through alternative binding sites using fragment-based approaches.

Evaluation and treatment of sex addiction.

There have been several diagnostic labels for persistent, excessive sexual behaviors, often referred in the popular media as sex addiction. Two related diagnoses, Internet addictive disorder and hypersexual disorder, were considered for, but not included in the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. However, most clinicians, even those trained in sexual disorders or addiction medicine, have little to no training in treating sexual compulsivity and cybersex addiction.