Inducing the Degradation of Disease-Related Proteins Using Heterobifunctional Molecules.
Delport, Alexandré;Hewer, Raymond;
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland)2019Vol. 24
128
delport2019inducingmolecules
Abstract
Current drug development strategies that target either enzymatic or receptor proteins for which specific small molecule ligands can be designed for modulation, result in a large portion of the proteome being overlooked as undruggable. The recruitment of natural degradation cascades for targeted protein removal using heterobifunctional molecules (or degraders) provides a likely avenue to expand the druggable proteome. In this review, we discuss the use of this drug development strategy in relation to degradation cascade-recruiting mechanisms and successfully targeted disease-related proteins. Essential characteristics to be considered in degrader design are deliberated upon and future development challenges mentioned.