nature protein

Unlike highly conserved orthosteric sites, allosteric sites exhibit low conservation, high hydrophobicity, weak polarity, confined geometry, and dynamic cryptic properties. Rather than rigid keyhole-like cavities, they typically appear as flexible grooves, subunit interface clefts, or shallow depressions formed by protein conformational changes.

Based on the dynamic, hydrophobic, and elongated nature of allosteric pockets, MCE has carried out targeted fragment modification and screening under strict physicochemical criteria: MW 120–280 Da, HBD ≤ 2, HBA ≤ 3, PSA 30–80 Ų, rotatable bonds ≤ 2, cLogP 1–3.5. High 3D diversity was further ensured by PMI analysis, yielding fragments with excellent shape complementarity to allosteric pockets.

This library contains 1,800 structurally diverse, drug-like fragments, this library supports allosteric drug development and pocket optimization. It significantly improves screening hit rates and enables efficient, precise early-stage R&D of allosteric drugs.

Recently, significant advancements in tyrosine-targeting electrophiles have primarily occurred in the field of protein-protein interactions (PPIs), where cysteine residues are often underrepresented and novel chemistries are needed to address these interfaces. In this context, tyrosines are frequently more accessible compared to more buried binding sites. Moreover, they are commonly found at "hot spots," which are functional epitopes of PPIs, with 12.3% of the residues consisting of tyrosines. This prevalence is likely due to the hydrophobic nature of tyrosine, its ability to participate in aromatic π-interactions, and its capacity for hydrogen bonding. Beyond PPIs, some progress has also been made in covalent tyrosine targeting in other areas where more commonly addressed side chains are lacking. Even though tyrosine has a slightly lower pKa value compared to the protonated lysine side chain (approximately 10 vs. 10.5 for the unprotected amino acid side chains), significantly less progress has been made in the development of tyrosine-targeted covalent ligands compared to lysine. This is likely due to the reduced flexibility of the tyrosine side chain and the greater steric hindrance of its hydroxy group, which makes it more challenging to adopt suitable reaction geometries.

Through careful selection, we constructed a structural filter containing over 110 electrophilic groups. By analyzing the electrophilic fragments selected by the structural filter, we removed any molecules with trivial or undesirable structural features. Ultimately, we obtained 124 fragment molecules which can target tyrosine residue and can be used for fragment-based covalent drug discovery.