Structure-kinetic relationship reveals the mechanism of selectivity of FAK inhibitors over PYK2

Benedict Tilman Berger, Marta Amaral, Daria B. Kokh, Ariane Nunes-Alves, Djordje Musil, Timo Heinrich, Martin Schröder, Rebecca Neil, Jing Wang, Iva Navratilova, Joerg Bomke, Jonathan M. Elkins, Susanne Müller, Matthias Frech, Rebecca C. Wade, Stefan Knapp (Lead / Corresponding author)

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

47 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

There is increasing evidence of a significant correlation between prolonged drug-target residence time and increased drug efficacy. Here, we report a structural rationale for kinetic selectivity between two closely related kinases: focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and proline-rich tyrosine kinase 2 (PYK2). We found that slowly dissociating FAK inhibitors induce helical structure at the DFG motif of FAK but not PYK2. Binding kinetic data, high-resolution structures and mutagenesis data support the role of hydrophobic interactions of inhibitors with the DFG-helical region, providing a structural rationale for slow dissociation rates from FAK and kinetic selectivity over PYK2. Our experimental data correlate well with computed relative residence times from molecular simulations, supporting a feasible strategy for rationally optimizing ligand residence times. We suggest that the interplay between the protein structural mobility and ligand-induced effects is a key regulator of the kinetic selectivity of inhibitors of FAK versus PYK2.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)686-698.e7
Number of pages20
JournalCell Chemical Biology
Volume28
Issue number5
Early online date25 Jan 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 20 May 2021

Keywords

  • focal adhesion kinase (FAK)
  • kinase inhibitor
  • ligand residence time
  • NanoBRET
  • proline-rich tyrosine kinase 2 (PYK2)
  • structure-kinetic-relationship
  • τRAMD

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biochemistry
  • Molecular Medicine
  • Molecular Biology
  • Pharmacology
  • Drug Discovery
  • Clinical Biochemistry

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