Design and synthesis of Coenzyme A analogues as Aurora kinase A inhibitors: An exploration of the roles of the pyrophosphate and pantetheine moieties

Aurora Kinase A Regulation by Cysteine Oxidative Modification

Aurora kinase A (AURKA), which is a member of serine/threonine kinase family, plays a critical role in regulating mitosis. AURKA has drawn much attention as its dysregulation is critically associated with various cancers, leading to the development of AURKA inhibitors, a new class of anticancer drugs. As the spatiotemporal activity of AURKA critically depends on diverse intra- and inter-molecular factors, including its interaction with various protein cofactors and post-translational modifications, each of these pathways should be exploited for the development of a novel class of AURKA inhibitors other than ATP-competitive inhibitors. Several lines of evidence have recently shown that redox-active molecules can modify the cysteine residues located on the kinase domain of AURKA, thereby regulating its activity. In this review, we present the current understanding of how oxidative modifications of cysteine residues of AURKA, induced by redox-active molecules, structurally and functionally regulate AURKA and discuss their implications in the discovery of novel AURKA inhibitors.

Medicinal chemistry of pyrophosphate mimics: A mini review

The pyrophosphate mimicking groups offer rational modification of the pyrophosphate-bearing natural substrates of the overexpressed enzymes that cause the onset of disease progression. Mainly, the modified substrate interacts differently with the enzyme active site eventually causing its deactivation, or provides the therapeutically active products at the completion of the catalytic cycle that contribute toward the inhibition of the target enzyme. Many of the pyrophosphate mimic-containing molecules serve as competitive or allosteric inhibitors of the target enzyme to achieve the desirable properties for the mitigation of the target enzyme's pathophysiology. This review presents an epigrammatic overview of the pyrophosphate mimics in medicinal chemistry.