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Design, Synthesis and Biological Activity Evaluation of Kinase Inhibitors

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Biochemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 May 2025 | Viewed by 1694

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry, Middle Tennessee State University, 1301 E. Main Street, Murfreesboro, TN 37132, USA
Interests: tubulin polymerization inhibitors; autotaxin inhibitors; cancer; drug resistance

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The enzymes commonly referred to as kinases are responsible for catalyzing the transfer of a phosphate group from ATP to proteins or small biomolecules, such as lipids and carbohydrates. Phosphorylation introduces structural changes in substrates, affecting their important functions in different crucial cellular processes, including proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. Hence, dysregulation of kinase activity prevents the substrates from playing their critical role in the regulation of intracellular homeostasis or extracellular signal transduction, leading to progressive disorders such as cancer.  Advancements of disease biology over the last decade have allowed the scientific community to validate several protein and lipid kinases as therapeutic targets for cancer. However, the emergence of drug resistance has restricted the efficacy of kinase inhibitors, resulting in recurrence and poor prognosis. Growing evidence suggests many factors, including tumor microenvironment and epigenetics, as plausible underlying causes for kinase resistance. Over the past few years, there have been steadily increasing efforts in the development of multitargeted kinase inhibitors, as well as adjuvant therapies to overcome drug resistance and improve clinical benefits.

This Special Issue offers a platform for high-quality articles on design, development, and biological evaluation of kinase inhibitors, with the hope being that a better understanding of their structure, function, regulation, and biological roles can be achieved. Both review articles and research articles addressing current advances in the field are welcome.

Dr. Souvik Banerjee
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • kinase inhibitors
  • dual inhibitors
  • adjuvant therapy
  • metabolic stability
  • drug resistance

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

21 pages, 7426 KiB  
Article
Structure-Based Discovery of MolPort-137: A Novel Autotaxin Inhibitor That Improves Paclitaxel Efficacy
by Prateek Rai, Christopher J. Clark, Vandana Kardam, Carl B. Womack, Joshua Thammathong, Derek D. Norman, Gábor J. Tigyi, Kevin Bicker, April M. Weissmiller, Kshatresh Dutta Dubey and Souvik Banerjee
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(2), 597; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26020597 - 12 Jan 2025
Viewed by 1235
Abstract
The autotaxin–lysophosphatidic acid receptor (ATX-LPAR) signaling axis is pivotal in various clinical conditions, including cancer and autoimmune disorders. This axis promotes tumorigenicity by interacting with the tumor microenvironment, facilitating metastasis, and conceding antitumor immunity, thereby fostering resistance to conventional cancer therapies. Recent studies [...] Read more.
The autotaxin–lysophosphatidic acid receptor (ATX-LPAR) signaling axis is pivotal in various clinical conditions, including cancer and autoimmune disorders. This axis promotes tumorigenicity by interacting with the tumor microenvironment, facilitating metastasis, and conceding antitumor immunity, thereby fostering resistance to conventional cancer therapies. Recent studies highlight the promise of ATX/LPAR inhibitors in combination with conventional chemotherapeutic drugs to overcome some forms of this resistance, representing a novel therapeutic strategy. In the current study, we employed structure-based virtual screening, integrating pharmacophore modeling and molecular docking, to identify MolPort-137 as a novel ATX inhibitor with an IC50 value of 1.6 ± 0.2 μM in an autotaxin enzyme inhibition assay. Molecular dynamics simulations and binding free energy calculations elucidated the binding mode of MolPort-137 and its critical amino acid interactions. Remarkably, MolPort-137 exhibited no cytotoxicity as a single agent but enhanced the effectiveness of paclitaxel in 4T1 murine breast carcinoma cells and resensitized taxol-resistant cells to paclitaxel treatment, which highlights its potential in combination therapy. Full article
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