The role of structure in kinase-targeted inhibitor design

Protein kinases are attractive targets for rational drug design against a wide range of diseases. From detailed knowledge of the structure-function relationships underlying protein kinase activity and regulation, a number of methods for achieving kinase inhibition have been suggested and explored using structure-aided drug discovery. Attaining selective protein kinase inhibition in a cellular context, and converting the large number of known potent kinase inhibitors into effective drugs, are outstanding problems in this area and, from a structural perspective, the challenges presented by modulating pharmacokinetics and minimizing the incidence of resistant mutations in the target are of particular interest.