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Properties of FDA-approved small molecule protein kinase inhibitors
Abstract
Because mutations, overexpression, and dysregulation of protein kinases play essential roles in the pathogenesis of many illnesses, this enzyme family has become one of the most important drug targets in the past 20 years. The US FDA has approved 48 small molecule protein kinase inhibitors, nearly all of which are orally effective with the exceptions of netarsudil (which is given as an eye drop) and temsirolimus (which is given intravenously). Of the 48 approved drugs, the majority (25) target receptor protein-tyrosine kinases, ten target non-receptor protein-tyrosine kinases, and 13 target protein-serine/threonine protein kinases. The data indicate that 43 of these drugs are used in the treatment of malignancies (36 against solid tumors including lymphomas and seven against non-solid tumors, e.g., leukemias). Seven drugs are used in the treatment of non-malignancies: baricitinib, rheumatoid arthritis; fostamatinib, chronic immune thrombocytopenia; ruxolitinib, myelofibrosis and polycythemia vera; nintedanib, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis; sirolimus, renal graft vs. host disease; netarsudil, glaucoma; tofacitinib, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn disease, and ulcerative colitis. Moreover, ibrutinib and sirolimus are used for the treatment of both malignant and non-malignant diseases. The most common drug targets include ALK, B-Raf, BCR-Abl, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR). Most of the small molecule inhibitors (45) interact directly with the protein kinase domain. In contrast, sirolimus, temsirolimus, and everolimus are larger molecules (MW ≈ 1000) that bind to FKBP-12 to generate a complex that inhibits mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin). This review presents the available drug-enzyme X-ray crystal structures for 27 of the approved drugs as well as the chemical structures and physicochemical properties of all of the FDA-approved small molecule protein kinase antagonists. Six of the drugs bind covalently and irreversibly to their target. Twenty of the 48 drugs have molecular weights greater than 500, exceeding a Lipinski rule of five criterion. Excluding the macrolides (everolimus, sirolimus, temsirolimus), the average molecular weight of drugs is 480 with a range of 306 (ruxolitinib) to 615 (trametinib). Nearly half of the antagonists (23) have a lipophilic efficiency with values of less than five while the recommended optima range from 5-10. One of the vexing problems is the near universal development of resistance that is associated with the use of small molecule protein kinase inhibitors for the treatment of cancer.
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“only 7% of the human kinome has been therapeutically explored”
From Mapping the Degradable Kinome Provides a Resource for Expedited Degrader Development (2020) · cites this paper as Roskoski, 2019
In the citing paper
“only 7% of the human kinome has been therapeutically explored”
From Mapping the Degradable Kinome Provides a Resource for Expedited Degrader Development (2020) · cites this paper as Roskoski Jr, 2019
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BindingDB Entry 50011453: Proposed Allosteric Inhibitors Bind to the ATP Site of CK2α.
BindingDB (2022) · UC San Diego · doi:10.7270/q2tf01x2
BindingDB Entry 50011670: Structural Basis for Targeting the Folded P-Loop Conformation of c-MET.
BindingDB (2022) · UC San Diego · doi:10.7270/q20c50dp
BindingDB (2023) · UC San Diego · doi:10.7270/q29g5rt0
BindingDB Entry 50006744: Lead identification and characterization of hTrkA type 2 inhibitors.
BindingDB (2021) · UC San Diego · doi:10.7270/q2280bvb
BindingDB Entry 50006866: Discovery and Development of a Series of Pyrazolo[3,4-
BindingDB (2021) · UC San Diego · doi:10.7270/q2kp85d8
BindingDB Entry 50009139: Type 2 inhibitor leads of human tropomyosin receptor kinase (hTrkA).
BindingDB (2021) · UC San Diego · doi:10.7270/q2bv7m2b
BindingDB (2023) · UC San Diego · doi:10.7270/q2fn1b7v
Metadata
- Authors
- Roskoski, R.
- Corresponding author
- Roskoski, Robert
- ORCID
- Roskoski, Robert
- Venue
- Pharmacological Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2019-06
- Volume
- 144
- Pages
- 19-50
- ISSN
- 1043-6618 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2922159934
- Cited by
- 554
- References
- 225
- Citations by year
- 2026: 36 · 2025: 42 · 2024: 60 · 2023: 43 · 2022: 64 · 2021: 153 · 2020: 109 · 2019: 47
- FWCI
- 8.52
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Pharmacological Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Protein Kinase Regulation and GTPase Signaling
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cancer Research › Cancer Mechanisms and Therapy
- Life Sciences › Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics › Drug Discovery › Computational Drug Discovery Methods
- Keywords
- protein kinase inhibitors, small-molecule kinase inhibitors, FDA-approved drugs, physicochemical properties, molecular weight, Lipinski's rule of five, kinase domain, mTOR inhibition, rapamycin, temsirolimus, everolimus, receptor tyrosine kinase, non-receptor tyrosine kinase, serine/threonine kinase
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Humans, Models, Molecular, Protein Conformation, Protein Kinases, United States, United States Food and Drug Administration, Drug Approval, Crystallography, X-Ray, Protein Kinase Inhibitors, Small Molecule Libraries, Molecular Targeted Therapy
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