Bringing kinases into focus: efficient drug design through the use of chemogenomic toolkits

The study of protein target families, as opposed to single targets, has become a very powerful tool in chemogenomics-led drug discovery. By integrating comprehensive chemoinformatics and bioinformatics databases with customised analytical tools, a 'Toolkit' approach for the target family is possible, thus allowing predictions of the ligand class, affinity, selectivity and likely off-target issues to be made for the guidance of the medicinal chemist. In this review, we highlight the development and application of the Toolkit approach to the protein kinase superfamily, drawing on examples from lead optimisation studies and the design of focused libraries for lead discovery.