Peptoids as potential therapeutics.

Peptoids are oligomers of N-substituted glycine units. These molecules are almost perfectly suited for combinatorial approaches to drug discovery because large libraries can be synthesized easily from readily available primary amines. Moreover, major advances in screening methodology have allowed peptoid libraries of hundreds of thousands of compounds to be mined inexpensively and quickly for highly specific protein-binding molecules. These advances and the potential utility of peptoids as pharmacological agents are reviewed.