title: Metal complexes as structural templates for targeting proteins.
abstract: This article reviews recent advances in the design and discovery of inert metal complexes as protein binders. In these metal-based probes or drug candidates, the metal is supposed to exert a purely structural role by organizing the coordinating ligands in the three dimensional space to achieve a shape and functional group complementarity with the targeted protein pockets. Presented examples of sandwich, half-sandwich and octahedral d(6)-metal complexes reinforce previous perceptions that metal complexes are highly promising scaffolds for the design of small-molecule protein binders and complement the molecular diversity of organic chemistry by opening untapped chemical space.
authors.affiliation: Fachbereich Chemie, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Hans-Meerwein-Strasse, 35043 Marburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dörr
authors.affiliation: Fachbereich Chemie, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Hans-Meerwein-Strasse, 35043 Marburg, Germany; College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: meggers@chemie.uni-marburg.de.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Meggers
mesh_terms: D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D008667:Metalloproteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D008670:Metals / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D011485:Protein Binding; D011487:Protein Conformation
chemical_list: D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D008667:Metalloproteins; D008670:Metals