Protein-protein interactions as drug targets

Modulation of protein–protein interactions (PPIs) is becoming increasingly important in drug discovery and chemical biology. While a few years ago this ‘target class’ was deemed to be largely undruggable an impressing number of publications and success stories now show that targeting PPIs with small, drug-like molecules indeed is a feasible approach. Here, we summarize the current state of small-molecule inhibition and stabilization of PPIs and review the active molecules from a structural and medicinal chemistry angle, especially focusing on the key examples of iNOS, LFA-1 and 14–3–3.