Protein-protein interactions in human disease

Many human diseases are the result of abnormal protein-protein interactions involving endogenous proteins, proteins from pathogens or both. The inhibition of these aberrant associations is of obvious clinical significance. Because of the diverse nature of protein-protein interactions, however, the successful design of therapeutics requires detailed knowledge of each system at a molecular and atomic level. Several recent studies have identified and/or characterised specific interactions from various disease systems, including cervical cancer, bacterial infection, leukaemia and neurodegenerative disease. A range of approaches are being developed to generate inhibitors of protein-protein interactions that may form useful therapeutics for human disease.