PDZ domains, which belong to protein-protein interaction networks, are critical for regulating important biological processes such as scaffolding, trafficking, and signaling cascades. Interfering with PDZ-mediated interactions could affect these numerous biological processes. Thus, PDZ domains have emerged as promising targets to decipher biological phenomena and potentially treat cancer and neurological diseases. In this minireview, we focus on the discovery and design of small molecule inhibitors to modulate PDZ domains. These compounds interfere with endogenous protein partners from the PDZ domain by binding at the protein-protein interface. While peptides or peptidomimetic ligands were described to modulate PDZ domains, the focus of this review is on small organic compounds.
Keywords: Molecular modeling; PDZ domain; PDZ inhibitors; Rational design; Screening.