{"entity":{"id":"inhibitor","kind":"term","name":"Inhibitor","aka":["inhibitors","inhibits","inhibited","inhibition","inhibiting","blocker","blockers","blockade","small-molecule inhibitor","small-molecule inhibitors","small molecule inhibitor","small molecule inhibitors"],"tldr":"A drug that blocks a specific protein from doing its job, usually by lodging in the pocket the protein needs to work. Most targeted cancer drugs are named after what they inhibit.","summary":"Inhibitors can bind reversibly (competing with the natural substrate) or irreversibly (forming a permanent bond, as afatinib does with EGFR), and can bind the active site or a separate pocket that distorts the protein (allosteric inhibition, as sotorasib does with KRAS G12C). The name usually tells you the target: PARP inhibitor, CDK4/6 inhibitor, checkpoint inhibitor, aromatase inhibitor. Because inhibitors only block rather than remove a protein, the cell can escape by making more of it, mutating the pocket, or rerouting the signal; degraders, which destroy the protein, are one answer.","asOf":"2026-09-09","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enzyme_inhibitor","links":[{"label":"Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enzyme_inhibitor"}],"tags":[],"related":["kinase","enzyme","agonist-antagonist","targeted-therapy-term","resistance"],"cancers":[],"sections":[],"technologies":["kinase-inhibitors","parp-inhibitor","cdk46-inhibitor","kras-inhibitors","protac-degrader"],"targets":[],"drugs":["sotorasib","olaparib","palbociclib"],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"category":"Biology basics"},"route":"/terms/inhibitor/","neighbours":{"term":[{"id":"agonist-antagonist","kind":"term","name":"Agonist and antagonist","route":"/terms/agonist-antagonist/"},{"id":"resistance","kind":"term","name":"Drug resistance (primary and acquired)","route":"/terms/resistance/"},{"id":"enzyme","kind":"term","name":"Enzyme","route":"/terms/enzyme/"},{"id":"kinase","kind":"term","name":"Kinase","route":"/terms/kinase/"},{"id":"targeted-therapy-term","kind":"term","name":"Targeted therapy","route":"/terms/targeted-therapy-term/"}],"technology":[{"id":"cdk46-inhibitor","kind":"technology","name":"CDK4/6 inhibitors","route":"/technologies/cdk46-inhibitor/"},{"id":"kras-inhibitors","kind":"technology","name":"KRAS & RAS inhibitors","route":"/technologies/kras-inhibitors/"},{"id":"parp-inhibitor","kind":"technology","name":"PARP inhibitors","route":"/technologies/parp-inhibitor/"},{"id":"protac-degrader","kind":"technology","name":"PROTACs & molecular glues (targeted protein degradation)","route":"/technologies/protac-degrader/"},{"id":"kinase-inhibitors","kind":"technology","name":"Small-molecule kinase inhibitors","route":"/technologies/kinase-inhibitors/"}],"drug":[{"id":"olaparib","kind":"drug","name":"Olaparib","route":"/drugs/olaparib/"},{"id":"palbociclib","kind":"drug","name":"Palbociclib","route":"/drugs/palbociclib/"},{"id":"sotorasib","kind":"drug","name":"Sotorasib","route":"/drugs/sotorasib/"}]}}