PPI inhibitor and stabilizer development in human diseases

All processes in living organisms are regulated by, or at least influenced by, protein-protein interactions (PPI). Membrane proteins play a fundamental part in this class of interactions: by providing inter-cellular communication and sensing capabilities to the cell, they lead to downstream regulation signaling events. It is therefore not surprising that PPI modulators are of keen interest when developing drug-like molecules for a range of diseases and medical conditions. However, techniques for exploiting PPIs in meaningful ways have only recently become readily available. This review is meant to provide a brief overview of applied techniques for PPI elucidation, and present various case studies of PPI exploitation ranging from early discovery efforts to now-approved market drugs.