Mechanism-based inhibition of zinc proteases.

The functions of zinc proteases have been implicated in a host of physiological and pathological processes in living organisms. Mechanism-based inhibitors are highly sought as biologically active molecules that afford high selectivity in targeting specific enzymes. Mechanism-based inhibitors for zinc-dependent proteases have been developed in the past several years. These inhibitors exploit the chemistry inherent to transition metals in their mechanisms of enzyme inhibition. These efforts have been reviewed in this manuscript.