Fragmenting the S100B–p53 Interaction: CombinedVirtual/Biophysical Screening Approaches to IdentifyLigands

S100B contributes to cell proliferation by binding the C terminus of p53 and inhibiting its tumor suppressor function. The use of multiple computational approaches to screen fragment libraries targeting the human S100B–p53 interaction site is reported. This in silico screening led to the identification of 280 novel prospective ligands. NMR spectroscopic experiments revealed specific binding at the p53 interaction site for a set of these compounds and confirmed their potential for further rational optimization. The X-ray crystal structure determined for one of the binders revealed key intermolecular interactions, thus paving the way for structure-based ligand optimization.