Drug discovery by targeting the protein-protein interactions involved in autophagy.
10.1016/j.apsb.2023.07.016
- Author:
Honggang XIANG
1
;
Mi ZHOU
1
;
Yan LI
1
;
Lu ZHOU
1
;
Renxiao WANG
1
Author Information
1. Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Fudan University, Shanghai 201203, China.
- Publication Type:Review
- Keywords:
Autophagy regulation;
Drug discovery;
Protein–protein interactions;
Small-molecule regulators
- From:
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B
2023;13(11):4373-4390
- CountryChina
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Autophagy is a cellular process in which proteins and organelles are engulfed in autophagosomal vesicles and transported to the lysosome/vacuole for degradation. Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) play a crucial role at many stages of autophagy, which present formidable but attainable targets for autophagy regulation. Moreover, selective regulation of PPIs tends to have a lower risk in causing undesired off-target effects in the context of a complicated biological network. Thus, small-molecule regulators, including peptides and peptidomimetics, targeting the critical PPIs involved in autophagy provide a new opportunity for innovative drug discovery. This article provides general background knowledge of the critical PPIs involved in autophagy and reviews a range of successful attempts on discovering regulators targeting those PPIs. Successful strategies and existing limitations in this field are also discussed.
