Recapitulating the α-Helix: Nonpeptidic, Low-Molecular-Weight Ligands for the Modulation of Helix-Mediated Protein–Protein Interactions

Protein-protein interactions play critical roles in a wide variety of biological processes, and their dysregulations contribute to the pathogenesis of several diseases, including cancer. Chemical entities that can abrogate aberrant protein-protein interactions may provide novel therapeutic agents. A large number of protein-protein interactions are mediated by protein secondary structure, the most commonly encountered form of which is the α-helix. Accordingly, over the last decade, there has been a flood of nonpeptidic small molecules that recapitulate the projection and chemical nature of key side chains of the canonical α-helix as a strategy to disrupt helix-mediated protein-protein interactions. In this review, we discuss recent advances (post 2006) in the design of synthetic α-helix mimetics, which include single-faced and two-faced/amphipathic structures, for the modulation of protein-protein interactions.