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Isaak AJ, Clements GR, Buenaventura RGM, Merlino G, Yu Y. Development of Personalized Strategies for Precisely Battling Malignant Melanoma. Int J Mol Sci 2024; 25:5023. [PMID: 38732242 PMCID: PMC11084485 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25095023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2024] [Revised: 04/27/2024] [Accepted: 04/30/2024] [Indexed: 05/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Melanoma is the most severe and fatal form of skin cancer, resulting from multiple gene mutations with high intra-tumor and inter-tumor molecular heterogeneity. Treatment options for patients whose disease has progressed beyond the ability for surgical resection rely on currently accepted standard therapies, notably immune checkpoint inhibitors and targeted therapies. Acquired resistance to these therapies and treatment-associated toxicity necessitate exploring novel strategies, especially those that can be personalized for specific patients and/or populations. Here, we review the current landscape and progress of standard therapies and explore what personalized oncology techniques may entail in the scope of melanoma. Our purpose is to provide an up-to-date summary of the tools at our disposal that work to circumvent the common barriers faced when battling melanoma.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Yanlin Yu
- Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Genetics, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
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Hu HH, Wang SQ, Shang HL, Lv HF, Chen BB, Gao SG, Chen XB. Roles and inhibitors of FAK in cancer: current advances and future directions. Front Pharmacol 2024; 15:1274209. [PMID: 38410129 PMCID: PMC10895298 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2024.1274209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2023] [Accepted: 01/30/2024] [Indexed: 02/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) is a non-receptor tyrosine kinase that exhibits high expression in various tumors and is associated with a poor prognosis. FAK activation promotes tumor growth, invasion, metastasis, and angiogenesis via both kinase-dependent and kinase-independent pathways. Moreover, FAK is crucial for sustaining the tumor microenvironment. The inhibition of FAK impedes tumorigenesis, metastasis, and drug resistance in cancer. Therefore, developing targeted inhibitors against FAK presents a promising therapeutic strategy. To date, numerous FAK inhibitors, including IN10018, defactinib, GSK2256098, conteltinib, and APG-2449, have been developed, which have demonstrated positive anti-tumor effects in preclinical studies and are undergoing clinical trials for several types of tumors. Moreover, many novel FAK inhibitors are currently in preclinical studies to advance targeted therapy for tumors with aberrantly activated FAK. The benefits of FAK degraders, especially in terms of their scaffold function, are increasingly evident, holding promising potential for future clinical exploration and breakthroughs. This review aims to clarify FAK's role in cancer, offering a comprehensive overview of the current status and future prospects of FAK-targeted therapy and combination approaches. The goal is to provide valuable insights for advancing anti-cancer treatment strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hui-Hui Hu
- Department of Oncology, The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Zhengzhou University and Henan Cancer Hospital, Henan Engineering Research Center of Precision Therapy of Gastrointestinal Cancer and Zhengzhou Key Laboratory for Precision Therapy of Gastrointestinal Cancer, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Sai-Qi Wang
- Department of Oncology, The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Zhengzhou University and Henan Cancer Hospital, Henan Engineering Research Center of Precision Therapy of Gastrointestinal Cancer and Zhengzhou Key Laboratory for Precision Therapy of Gastrointestinal Cancer, Zhengzhou, China
- State Key Laboratory of Esophageal Cancer Prevention & Treatment, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Hai-Li Shang
- Department of Oncology, The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Zhengzhou University and Henan Cancer Hospital, Henan Engineering Research Center of Precision Therapy of Gastrointestinal Cancer and Zhengzhou Key Laboratory for Precision Therapy of Gastrointestinal Cancer, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Hui-Fang Lv
- Department of Oncology, The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Zhengzhou University and Henan Cancer Hospital, Henan Engineering Research Center of Precision Therapy of Gastrointestinal Cancer and Zhengzhou Key Laboratory for Precision Therapy of Gastrointestinal Cancer, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Bei-Bei Chen
- Department of Oncology, The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Zhengzhou University and Henan Cancer Hospital, Henan Engineering Research Center of Precision Therapy of Gastrointestinal Cancer and Zhengzhou Key Laboratory for Precision Therapy of Gastrointestinal Cancer, Zhengzhou, China
- State Key Laboratory of Esophageal Cancer Prevention & Treatment, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
| | - She-Gan Gao
- Henan Key Laboratory of Microbiome and Esophageal Cancer Prevention and Treatment, Henan Key Laboratory of Cancer Epigenetics, Cancer Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, China
| | - Xiao-Bing Chen
- Department of Oncology, The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Zhengzhou University and Henan Cancer Hospital, Henan Engineering Research Center of Precision Therapy of Gastrointestinal Cancer and Zhengzhou Key Laboratory for Precision Therapy of Gastrointestinal Cancer, Zhengzhou, China
- State Key Laboratory of Esophageal Cancer Prevention & Treatment, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
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Nair SG, Benny S, Jose WM, Aneesh T P. Beta-blocker adjunct therapy as a prospective anti-metastatic with cardio-oncologic regulation. Clin Exp Metastasis 2024; 41:9-24. [PMID: 38177715 DOI: 10.1007/s10585-023-10258-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2023] [Accepted: 12/12/2023] [Indexed: 01/06/2024]
Abstract
The prevailing treatment stratagem in cancer therapy still challenges the dilemma of a probable metastatic spread following an initial diagnosis. Including an anti-metastatic agent demands a significant focus to overrule the incidence of treatment failures. Adrenergic stimulation underlying the metastatic spread paved the way for beta blockers as a breakthrough in repurposing as an anti-metastatic agent. However, the current treatment approach fails to fully harness the versatile potential of the drug in inhibiting probable metastasis. The beta blockers were seen to show a myriad of grip over the pro-metastatic and prognostic parameters of the patient. Novel interventions in immune therapy, onco-hypertension, surgery-induced stress, induction of apoptosis and angiogenesis inhibition have been used as evidence to interpret our objective of discussing the potential adjuvant role of the drug in the existing anti-cancer regimens. Adding weight to the relative incidence of onco-hypertension as an unavoidable side effect from chemotherapy, the slot for an anti-hypertensive agent is necessitated, and we try to suggest beta-blockers to fill this position. However, pointing out the paucity in the clinical study, we aim to review the current status of beta blockers under this interest to state how the drug should be included as a drug of choice in every patient undergoing cancer treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sachin G Nair
- Department of Pharmacy Practice, Amrita School of Pharmacy, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, AIMS Health Sciences Campus, Kochi, Kerala, 682041, India
| | - Sonu Benny
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Amrita School of Pharmacy, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, AIMS Health Sciences Campus, Kochi, Kerala, 682041, India
| | - Wesley M Jose
- Department of Medical Oncology, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, AIMS PO, Kochi, Kerala, 682041, India.
| | - Aneesh T P
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Amrita School of Pharmacy, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, AIMS Health Sciences Campus, Kochi, Kerala, 682041, India.
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Dunsche L, Ivanisenko N, Riemann S, Schindler S, Beissert S, Angeli C, Kreis S, Tavassoli M, Lavrik I, Kulms D. A cytosolic mutp53(E285K) variant confers chemoresistance of malignant melanoma. Cell Death Dis 2023; 14:831. [PMID: 38097548 PMCID: PMC10721616 DOI: 10.1038/s41419-023-06360-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2023] [Revised: 11/29/2023] [Accepted: 11/30/2023] [Indexed: 12/17/2023]
Abstract
Malignant melanoma (MM) is known to be intrinsically chemoresistant, even though only ~20% of MM carry mutations of the tumor suppressor p53. Despite improvement of systemic therapy the mortality rate of patients suffering from metastatic MM is still ~70%, highlighting the need for alternative treatment options or for the re-establishment of conventional therapeutic approaches, including chemotherapy. Screening the p53 mutation status in a cohort of 19 patient-derived melanoma samples, we identified one rarely described missense mutation of p53 leading to E285K amino acid exchange (mutp53(E285K)). Employing structural and computational analysis we revealed a major role of E285 residue in maintaining stable conformation of wild-type p53 (wtp53). E285K mutation was predicted to cause interruption of a salt-bridge network affecting the conformation of the C-terminal helix of the DNA-binding domain (DBD) thereby preventing DNA interaction. In this context, a cluster of frequently mutated amino acid residues in cancer was identified to putatively lead to similar structural effects as E285K substitution (E285 cluster). Functional analysis, including knockdown of endogenous p53 and reconstitution with diverse p53 missense mutants confirmed mutp53(E285K) to have lost transcriptional activity, to be localized in the cytosol of cancer cells, by both means conferring chemoresistance. Re-sensitization to cisplatin-induced cell death was achieved using clinically approved compounds aiming to restore p53 wild-type function (PRIMA1-Met), or inhibition of AKT-driven MAPK survival pathways (afuresertib), in both cases being partially due to ferroptosis induction. Consequently, active ferroptosis induction using the GPX4 inhibitor RSL3 proved superior in tumorselectively fighting MM cells. Due to high prevalence of the E285-cluster mutations in MM as well as in a variety of other tumor types, we conclude this cluster to serve an important function in tumor development and therapy and suggest new implications for ferroptosis induction in therapeutic applications fighting MM in particular and cancer in general.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luise Dunsche
- Experimental Dermatology, Department of Dermatology, TU-Dresden, 01307, Dresden, Germany
- National Center for Tumor Diseases, TU-Dresden, 01307, Dresden, Germany
| | - Nikita Ivanisenko
- Translational Inflammation Research, Medical Faculty, Center of Dynamic Systems, Otto von Guericke University, 39106, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Shamala Riemann
- Experimental Dermatology, Department of Dermatology, TU-Dresden, 01307, Dresden, Germany
- National Center for Tumor Diseases, TU-Dresden, 01307, Dresden, Germany
| | - Sebastian Schindler
- Experimental Dermatology, Department of Dermatology, TU-Dresden, 01307, Dresden, Germany
- National Center for Tumor Diseases, TU-Dresden, 01307, Dresden, Germany
| | - Stefan Beissert
- Experimental Dermatology, Department of Dermatology, TU-Dresden, 01307, Dresden, Germany
| | - Cristian Angeli
- Department of Life Science and Medicine, University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, 4367, Luxembourg
| | - Stephanie Kreis
- Department of Life Science and Medicine, University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, 4367, Luxembourg
| | - Mahvash Tavassoli
- Molecular Oncology, Guy's Hospital, Kings College London, London, SE1 1UL, UK
| | - Inna Lavrik
- Translational Inflammation Research, Medical Faculty, Center of Dynamic Systems, Otto von Guericke University, 39106, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Dagmar Kulms
- Experimental Dermatology, Department of Dermatology, TU-Dresden, 01307, Dresden, Germany.
- National Center for Tumor Diseases, TU-Dresden, 01307, Dresden, Germany.
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Guo C, Li Q, Xiao J, Ma F, Xia X, Shi M. Identification of defactinib derivatives targeting focal adhesion kinase using ensemble docking, molecular dynamics simulations and binding free energy calculations. J Biomol Struct Dyn 2023; 41:8654-8670. [PMID: 36281703 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2022.2135601] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2022] [Accepted: 10/08/2022] [Indexed: 10/31/2022]
Abstract
Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) belongs to the nonreceptor tyrosine kinases, which selectively phosphorylate tyrosine residues on substrate proteins. FAK is associated with bladder, esophageal, gastric, neck, breast, ovarian and lung cancers. Thus, FAK has been considered as a potential target for tumor treatment. Currently, there are six adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-competitive FAK inhibitors tested in clinical trials but no approved inhibitors targeting FAK. Defactinib (VS-6063) is a second-generation FAK inhibitor with an IC50 of 0.6 nM. The binding model of VS-6063 with FAK may provide a reference model for developing new antitumor FAK-targeting drugs. In this study, the VS-6063/FAK binding model was constructed using ensemble docking and molecular dynamics simulations. Furthermore, the molecular mechanics/generalized Born (GB) surface area (MM/GBSA) method was employed to estimate the binding free energy between VS-6063 and FAK. The key residues involved in VS-6063/FAK binding were also determined using per-residue energy decomposition analysis. Based on the binding model, VS-6063 could be separated into seven regions to enhance its binding affinity with FAK. Meanwhile, 60 novel defactinib-based compounds were designed and verified using ensemble docking. Overall, the present study improves our understanding of the binding mechanism of human FAK with VS-6063 and provides new insights into future drug designs targeting FAK.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chuan Guo
- Clinical Medical College, Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Qinxuan Li
- Clinical Medical College, Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Jiujia Xiao
- Clinical Medical College, Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Feng Ma
- Clinical Medical College, Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Xun Xia
- Clinical Medical College, Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Mingsong Shi
- State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
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Bintener T, Pacheco MP, Philippidou D, Margue C, Kishk A, Del Mistro G, Di Leo L, Moscardó Garcia M, Halder R, Sinkkonen L, De Zio D, Kreis S, Kulms D, Sauter T. Metabolic modelling-based in silico drug target prediction identifies six novel repurposable drugs for melanoma. Cell Death Dis 2023; 14:468. [PMID: 37495601 PMCID: PMC10372000 DOI: 10.1038/s41419-023-05955-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2022] [Revised: 06/12/2023] [Accepted: 07/05/2023] [Indexed: 07/28/2023]
Abstract
Despite high initial response rates to targeted kinase inhibitors, the majority of patients suffering from metastatic melanoma present with high relapse rates, demanding for alternative therapeutic options. We have previously developed a drug repurposing workflow to identify metabolic drug targets that, if depleted, inhibit the growth of cancer cells without harming healthy tissues. In the current study, we have applied a refined version of the workflow to specifically predict both, common essential genes across various cancer types, and melanoma-specific essential genes that could potentially be used as drug targets for melanoma treatment. The in silico single gene deletion step was adapted to simulate the knock-out of all targets of a drug on an objective function such as growth or energy balance. Based on publicly available, and in-house, large-scale transcriptomic data metabolic models for melanoma were reconstructed enabling the prediction of 28 candidate drugs and estimating their respective efficacy. Twelve highly efficacious drugs with low half-maximal inhibitory concentration values for the treatment of other cancers, which are not yet approved for melanoma treatment, were used for in vitro validation using melanoma cell lines. Combination of the top 4 out of 6 promising candidate drugs with BRAF or MEK inhibitors, partially showed synergistic growth inhibition compared to individual BRAF/MEK inhibition. Hence, the repurposing of drugs may enable an increase in therapeutic options e.g., for non-responders or upon acquired resistance to conventional melanoma treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tamara Bintener
- Department of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, Luxembourg
| | - Maria Pires Pacheco
- Department of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, Luxembourg
| | - Demetra Philippidou
- Department of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, Luxembourg
| | - Christiane Margue
- Department of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, Luxembourg
| | - Ali Kishk
- Department of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, Luxembourg
| | - Greta Del Mistro
- Experimental Dermatology, Department of Dermatology, TU-Dresden, Dresden, Germany
- National Center for Tumour Diseases, TU-Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Luca Di Leo
- Melanoma Research Team, Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Maria Moscardó Garcia
- Department of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, Luxembourg
| | - Rashi Halder
- Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine, University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, Luxembourg
| | - Lasse Sinkkonen
- Department of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, Luxembourg
| | - Daniela De Zio
- Melanoma Research Team, Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Stephanie Kreis
- Department of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, Luxembourg
| | - Dagmar Kulms
- Experimental Dermatology, Department of Dermatology, TU-Dresden, Dresden, Germany
- National Center for Tumour Diseases, TU-Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Thomas Sauter
- Department of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, Luxembourg.
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Neuendorf HM, Simmons JL, Boyle GM. Therapeutic targeting of anoikis resistance in cutaneous melanoma metastasis. Front Cell Dev Biol 2023; 11:1183328. [PMID: 37181747 PMCID: PMC10169659 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2023.1183328] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2023] [Accepted: 04/14/2023] [Indexed: 05/16/2023] Open
Abstract
The acquisition of resistance to anoikis, the cell death induced by loss of adhesion to the extracellular matrix, is an absolute requirement for the survival of disseminating and circulating tumour cells (CTCs), and for the seeding of metastatic lesions. In melanoma, a range of intracellular signalling cascades have been identified as potential drivers of anoikis resistance, however a full understanding of the process is yet to be attained. Mechanisms of anoikis resistance pose an attractive target for the therapeutic treatment of disseminating and circulating melanoma cells. This review explores the range of small molecule, peptide and antibody inhibitors targeting molecules involved in anoikis resistance in melanoma, and may be repurposed to prevent metastatic melanoma prior to its initiation, potentially improving the prognosis for patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hannah M. Neuendorf
- Cancer Drug Mechanisms Group, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Herston, QLD, Australia
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Jacinta L. Simmons
- Cancer Drug Mechanisms Group, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Herston, QLD, Australia
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Glen M. Boyle
- Cancer Drug Mechanisms Group, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Herston, QLD, Australia
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
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An In Vitro Analysis of TKI-Based Sequence Therapy in Renal Cell Carcinoma Cell Lines. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:ijms24065648. [PMID: 36982721 PMCID: PMC10058472 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24065648] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2023] [Revised: 03/01/2023] [Accepted: 03/09/2023] [Indexed: 03/18/2023] Open
Abstract
The tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) cabozantinib might impede the growth of the sunitinib-resistant cell lines by targeting MET and AXL overexpression in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). We studied the role of MET and AXL in the response to cabozantinib, particularly following long-term administration with sunitinib. Two sunitinib-resistant cell lines, 786-O/S and Caki-2/S, and the matching 786-O/WT and Caki-2/WT cells were exposed to cabozantinib. The drug response was cell-line-specific. The 786-O/S cells were less growth-inhibited by cabozantinib than 786-O/WT cells (p-value = 0.02). In 786-O/S cells, the high level of phosphorylation of MET and AXL was not affected by cabozantinib. Despite cabozantinib hampering the high constitutive phosphorylation of MET, the Caki-2 cells showed low sensitivity to cabozantinib, and this was independent of sunitinib pretreatment. In both sunitinib-resistant cell lines, cabozantinib increased Src-FAK activation and impeded mTOR expression. The modulation of ERK and AKT was cell-line-specific, mirroring the heterogeneity among the patients. Overall, the MET- and AXL-driven status did not affect cell responsiveness to cabozantinib in the second-line treatment. The activation of Src-FAK might counteract cabozantinib activity and contribute to tumor survival and may be considered an early indicator of therapy response.
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Shi M, Chen T, Wei S, Zhao C, Zhang X, Li X, Tang X, Liu Y, Yang Z, Chen L. Molecular Docking, Molecular Dynamics Simulations, and Free Energy Calculation Insights into the Binding Mechanism between VS-4718 and Focal Adhesion Kinase. ACS OMEGA 2022; 7:32442-32456. [PMID: 36119979 PMCID: PMC9476166 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.2c03951] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2022] [Accepted: 08/24/2022] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) is a 125 kDa nonreceptor tyrosine kinase that plays an important role in many carcinomas. Thus, the targeting of FAK by small molecules is considered to be promising for cancer therapy. Some FAK inhibitors have been reported as potential anticancer drugs and have entered into clinical development; for example, VS-4718 is currently undergoing clinical trials. However, the lack of crystal structural data for the binding of VS-4718 with FAK has hindered the optimization of this anticancer agent. In this work, the VS-4718/FAK interaction model was obtained by molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations. The binding free energies of VS-4718/FAK were also calculated using the molecular mechanics generalized Born surface area method. It was found that the aminopyrimidine group formed hydrogen bonds with the C502 residue of the hinge loop, while the D564 residue of the T-loop interacted with the amide group. In addition, I428, A452, V484, M499, G505, and L553 residues formed hydrophobic interactions with VS-4718. The obtained results therefore provide an improved understanding of the interaction between human FAK and VS-4718. Based on the obtained binding mechanism, 47 novel compounds were designed to target the adenosine 5'-triphosphate-binding pocket of human FAK, and ensemble docking was performed to assess the effects of these modifications on the inhibitor binding affinity. This work is also expected to provide additional insights into potential future target design strategies based on VS-4718.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mingsong Shi
- State
Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China
Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan, China
| | - Tao Chen
- State
Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China
Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan, China
| | - Siping Wei
- Key
Laboratory for Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of Medicinal Resources, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin 541004, China
- Department
of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou 646000, China
| | - Chenyu Zhao
- West
China School of Basic Medical Sciences and Forensic Medicine, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Xinyu Zhang
- West
China School of Pharmacy, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan, China
| | - Xinghui Li
- West
China School of Pharmacy, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan, China
| | - Xinyi Tang
- West
China School of Pharmacy, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan, China
| | - Yan Liu
- State
Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China
Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan, China
| | - Zhuang Yang
- State
Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China
Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan, China
- . Phone: +86-28-85164063
| | - Lijuan Chen
- State
Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China
Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan, China
- . Phone: +86-28-85164063
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