Structure-based drug repositioning: Potential and limits

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

Abstract

Drug repositioning, the assignment of new therapeutic purposes to known drugs, is an established strategy with many repurposed drugs on the market and many more at experimental stage. We review three use cases, a herpes drug with benefits in cancer, a cancer drug with potential in autoimmune disease, and a selective and an unspecific drug binding the same target (GPCR). We explore these use cases from a structural point of view focusing on a deep understanding of the underlying drug-target interactions. We review tools and data needed for such a drug-centric structural repositioning approach. Finally, we show that the availability of data on targets is an important limiting factor to realize the full potential of structural drug-repositioning.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)192-198
Number of pages7
JournalSeminars in cancer biology
Volume68
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2021
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

Scopus 85079370810
ORCID /0000-0003-2848-6949/work/141543365

Keywords

Sustainable Development Goals

Keywords

  • Animals, Antineoplastic Agents/chemistry, Antiviral Agents/therapeutic use, Autoimmune Diseases/drug therapy, Drug Discovery, Drug Repositioning/methods, Humans, Neoplasms/drug therapy, Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled/antagonists & inhibitors