Just add water! The effect of water on the specificity of protein-ligand binding sites and its potential application to drug design.

Recent data have highlighted the enigmatic role that water plays in biomolecular complexes. Water at the interface of a complex can increase the promiscuity of an interaction, yet it can also provide increased specificity and affinity. The ability to engineer water-binding sites into the interface between a drug and its target might prove useful in drug design.