A structural perspective of drug target and anti-target proteins, and
their molecular interactions with biologically active molecules, largely
advances many areas of drug discovery, including target validation, hit and lead
finding and lead optimisation. In the absence of experimental 3D structures,
protein structure prediction often offers a suitable alternative to facilitate
structure-based studies. This review outlines recent methodical advances in
homology modelling, with a focus on those techniques that necessitate
consideration of ligand binding. In this context, model quality estimation
deserves special attention because the accuracy and reliability of different
structure prediction techniques vary considerably, and the quality of a model
ultimately determines its usefulness for structure-based drug discovery.
Examples of G-protein-coupled receptors and ADMET-related proteins were selected
to illustrate recent progress and current limitations of protein structure
prediction. Basic guidelines for good modelling practice are also provided.