Comprehensive assay of kinase catalytic activity reveals features of kinase inhibitor selectivity

Nat Biotechnol. 2011 Oct 30;29(11):1039-45. doi: 10.1038/nbt.2017.

Abstract

Small-molecule protein kinase inhibitors are widely used to elucidate cellular signaling pathways and are promising therapeutic agents. Owing to evolutionary conservation of the ATP-binding site, most kinase inhibitors that target this site promiscuously inhibit multiple kinases. Interpretation of experiments that use these compounds is confounded by a lack of data on the comprehensive kinase selectivity of most inhibitors. Here we used functional assays to profile the activity of 178 commercially available kinase inhibitors against a panel of 300 recombinant protein kinases. Quantitative analysis revealed complex and often unexpected interactions between protein kinases and kinase inhibitors, with a wide spectrum of promiscuity. Many off-target interactions occur with seemingly unrelated kinases, revealing how large-scale profiling can identify multitargeted inhibitors of specific, diverse kinases. The results have implications for drug development and provide a resource for selecting compounds to elucidate kinase function and for interpreting the results of experiments involving kinase inhibitors.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Catalysis
  • Drug Design*
  • Enzyme Stability
  • High-Throughput Screening Assays*
  • Humans
  • Protein Binding
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors / chemistry*
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors / classification
  • Protein Kinases / chemistry*
  • Protein Kinases / classification
  • Signal Transduction
  • Substrate Specificity

Substances

  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors
  • Protein Kinases