In Silico Discovery of Aminoacyl-tRNA Synthetase Inhibitors

Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRSs) are enzymes that catalyze the transfer of amino acids to their cognate tRNA. They play a pivotal role in protein synthesis and are essential for cell growth and survival. The aaRSs are one of the leading targets for development of antibiotic agents. In this review, we mainly focused on aaRS inhibitor discovery and development using in silico methods including virtual screening and structure-based drug design. These computational methods are relatively fast and cheap, and are proving to be of great benefit for the rational development of more potent aaRS inhibitors and other pharmaceutical agents that may usher in a much needed generation of new antibiotics.