Identification and characterization of chemical probes for interrogation of the NEK family of kinases in cancer

摘要/项目总结 激酶是一类在人类蛋白质组中有500多个成员的蛋白质， 健康和疾病的生物过程。激酶已被证明是优秀的药物靶点， FDA批准了针对激酶的药物。尽管这一成功，大多数激酶是研究不足，和细节 他们的功能知之甚少。NEK家族的11种激酶（NEK 1至NEK 11）是一个特别重要的激酶家族。 在细胞周期、纤毛发生和细胞周期等关键生物过程中发挥作用的一组未被充分研究的激酶， DNA损伤反应（DDR），所有这些都与癌症和人类健康有关。这些激酶已经出现 与许多癌症、糖尿病、炎症性肠病、纤毛病变和ALS有关。在这个项目中，我们将 使用有效的基于激酶系统的方法来创建一套化学探针，测定， 试剂和分子工具来鉴定在癌症中起关键作用的NEK家族成员。这些优质 我们生产的化合物和试剂，我们将免费分享，将使科学家能够建立一个深入的 了解NEK家族成员的生理和病理作用。在目标1中， 使用迭代的药物化学和细胞内最先进的技术， 靶向接合测定。为了实现这一目标，我们还将创造可诱导的NEK敲低， 细胞系在目标2中，使用化合物和NEK敲低系，我们将评估以下的作用和重要性： 在一套NEK和肿瘤学相关的细胞健康和细胞生物学信号传导测定中的每个NEK，测量 对增殖、迁移、细胞周期、DNA复制和纤毛发生的影响。在目标3中， 通过实验确定每个NEK的底物，在更广泛的激酶依赖性信号中定位NEK， 途径，并开发遗传靶向激酶活性报告分子，用于跟踪NEK活性， 内源性细胞环境该项目的产出将包括有效和选择性的NEK抑制剂， 全家族检测，NEK抑制和敲低对关键癌症过程的影响的详细信息， 工具，以及NEK底物和途径信息。成功完成将提供一个框架， 需要更多的资源来验证单个NEK作为治疗癌症的高质量、可药用靶标。

ABSTRACT / PROJECT SUMMARY Kinases, a class of proteins with more than 500 members in the human proteome, are important regulators of biological processes in health and disease. Kinases have proven to be excellent drug targets with more than 70 FDA approved medicines that target kinases. Despite this success, most kinases are understudied, and details of their functions are poorly understood. The NEK family of 11 kinases (NEK1 through NEK11) is a particularly understudied set of kinases that play roles in key biological processes like the cell cycle, ciliogenesis, and the DNA damage response (DDR), all with relevance to cancer and human health. These kinases have emerging links to numerous cancers, diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, ciliopathies, and ALS. In this project we will use an efficient kinase systems-based approach to create an enabling suite of chemical probes, assays, reagents, and molecular tools to identify NEK family members that have key roles in cancer. These high-quality compounds and reagents we generate, which we will freely share, will allow scientists to build a deep understanding of the physiological and pathological roles members of the NEK family play. In Aim 1 we will create potent and selective inhibitors of each NEK using iterative medicinal chemistry and state of the art in cell target engagement assays. In a complementary effort for this aim we will also create inducible NEK knockdown cell lines. In Aim 2, using compounds and the NEK knockdown lines, we will evaluate the role and importance of each NEK in a suite of NEK and oncology-relevant cell health and cell biology signaling assays, measuring effects on proliferation, migration, the cell-cycle, DNA replication, and ciliogenesis. In Aim 3 we will experimentally determine the substrates of each NEK, locate the NEKs in broader kinase-dependent signaling pathways, and develop genetically targetable kinase activity reporters for tracking NEK activity within the endogenous cellular environment. Output from this project will include potent and selective NEK inhibitors, NEK family-wide assays, details on the impact of NEK inhibition and knockdown on key cancer processes, molecular tools, and NEK substrate and pathway information. Successful completion will provide a framework and the resources needed to validate individual NEKs as high quality, druggable targets for the treatment of cancer.