Using generative AI to transform peptide hits into small molecule leads

• Joshua Mills and
• Yu Heng Lau

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 672–679, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.51

• straightforward and generalisable workflow with a reasonable success rate for achieving the transformation from peptide to small molecule inhibitor. With the rapid maturation of computational tools based on artificial intelligence (AI), this Perspective highlights selected nascent examples where AI has been used

Advantages of PROTACs in achieving selective degradation of homologous protein families

• Luxi Yang,
• Xinfei Mao,
• Jingyi Zhang,
• Jing Shu,
• Wenhai Huang,
• Xiaowu Dong,
• Yinqiao Chen and
• Mingfei Wu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 628–661, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.49

• often exist in cancer and nervous system diseases [47]. Palbociclib was the first small-molecule inhibitor approved by the FDA in 2015 to target CDK4/6 in the CDK family [48]. Soon after, ribociclib and abemaciclib, small-molecule inhibitors targeting CDK4/6, were also approved by the FDA for breast

Development of a chemical scaffold for inhibiting nonribosomal peptide synthetases in live bacterial cells

• Fumihiro Ishikawa,
• Sho Konno,
• Hideaki Kakeya and
• Genzoh Tanabe

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 445–451, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.39

• -domains could attenuate the virulence of pathogens. 5’-O-N-(Aminoacyl or arylacyl)sulfamoyladenosine (AA-AMS) is a bisubstrate small-molecule inhibitor of the A-domains of NRPSs. However, the bacterial cell permeability of AA-AMS is typically a problem owing to its high hydrophilicity. In this study, we

Potent hemithioindigo-based antimitotics photocontrol the microtubule cytoskeleton in cellulo

• Alexander Sailer,
• Franziska Ermer,
• Yvonne Kraus,
• Rebekkah Bingham,
• Ferdinand H. Lutter,
• Julia Ahlfeld and
• Oliver Thorn-Seshold

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 125–134, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.14

• colchicine. It is not the case that colchicine (or any other small-molecule inhibitor) represents an ideal structure that colchicine domain inhibitors (CDIs) should reproduce. Thus, our design focus was to introduce reversible photoresponse to a CDI rather than developing compounds with high similarity to

Asymmetric synthesis of host-directed inhibitors of myxoviruses

• Terry W. Moore,
• Kasinath Sana,
• Dan Yan,
• Pahk Thepchatri,
• John M. Ndungu,
• Manohar T. Saindane,
• Mark A. Lockwood,
• Michael G. Natchus,
• Dennis C. Liotta,
• Richard K. Plemper,
• James P. Snyder and
• Aiming Sun

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2013, 9, 197–203, doi:10.3762/bjoc.9.23

• : asymmetric synthesis; benzimidazole; host-directed; myxovirus; small molecule inhibitor; Introduction Myxoviruses are divided into two evolutionarily distinct yet related families: the orthomyxoviridae, which is composed largely of the influenza viruses, and the paramyxoviridae, which includes respiratory

An improved synthesis of a fluorophosphonate–polyethylene glycol–biotin probe and its use against competitive substrates

• Hao Xu,
• Hairat Sabit,
• Gordon L. Amidon and
• H. D. Hollis Showalter

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2013, 9, 89–96, doi:10.3762/bjoc.9.12

• are required in order to observe a clear signal. Competition study The identification of novel serine hydrolases and the screening of their covalent inhibitors against FP-biotin type probes have been extensively studied [9][10][11]. The general approach for serine hydrolase small molecule inhibitor

Synthesis and characterization of Sant-75 derivatives as Hedgehog-pathway inhibitors

• Chao Che,
• Song Li,
• Bo Yang,
• Shengchang Xin,
• Zhixiong Yu,
• Taofeng Shao,
• Chuanye Tao,
• Shuo Lin and
• Zhen Yang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2012, 8, 841–849, doi:10.3762/bjoc.8.94

• human diseases, intense efforts have been invested to identify therapeutic inhibitors acting on the Smo protein. Cyclopamine (Figure 1), a natural alkaloid isolated from Veratrum californicum [12][13], was disclosed as the first small molecule inhibitor of the Hh pathway through direct interaction with