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Targeted protein degradation

Gluing the allosteric way

Molecular glue degraders induce or stabilize interactions between E3 ligases and target proteins. Beyond compound-induced, direct interactions, researchers recently uncovered an allosteric mechanism whereby a drug alters the target protein’s conformation, enabling high-affinity neo-binding to an E3 ligase and triggering degradation.

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Fig. 1: Mode of action of conventional and allosteric molecular glue degraders.

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Correspondence to Nicolas H. Thomä.

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Schneider, L.A., Bendel, A.M., Baur, R. et al. Gluing the allosteric way. Nat Chem Biol 21, 1835–1836 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41589-025-02059-z

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