Common Structural Features of Hydrophobic α-Helical Hot Spots: Insights for the Design of Novel α-Helix Mimetics.

The binding conformations of α-helical hydrophobic hot spots are convergent into two spatial areas in protein-protein complex structures. The physical basis for convergence was disclosed, which allows the development of pharmacophore models for i / i + 4/ i + 7 or i / i + 3/ i + 4 α-helical hot spots. Further investigation revealed that this convergence of binding conformations is common among all hydrophobic hot spots regardless of their α-helical positions. This observation led to a streamlined generation of pharmacophore models for hydrophobic hot spots at any positions along the α-helix. These successfully evaluated pharmacophore models may be useful for designing novel α-helical hot spot mimetics.