Protein-protein interactions as antibiotic targets: A medicinal chemistry perspective

There are 27 small molecule protein-protein interaction (PPI) modulators in Phase I, II, and III clinical trials targeting cancer, viruses, autoimmune disorders, and as immune suppression agents. Targeting PPIs as an antibiotic drug discovery strategy remains in relative infancy by comparison. However, a number of molecules are in development which target PPI within the replisome, divisome, transcriptome, and translatome are showing significant promise at the medicinal chemistry stage of drug development. Hence, the success of future PPI agents as antibiotics will build upon the techniques and design strategies of these molecules.