Kinetics of trkA tyrosine kinase activity and inhibition by K-252a

The kinetic mechanism of the trk receptor-linked tyrosine kinase was determined using a baculovirus expressed trk kinase domain and a bacterially expressed phospholipase C-gamma/glutathione S-transferase (PLC-gamma/ GST) fusion protein as substrate. Product and dead-end inhibition studies indicate an ordered association of substrates to trkA kinase with the nucleotide ATP binding prior to the exogenous substrate PLC-gamma/GST, followed by release of the phosphorylated PLC-gamma/GST product prior to release of ADP (sequential ordered bi-bi mechanism). This is in contrast to the reported kinetic mechanisms of closely related EGF receptor and insulin receptor kinases which appear to proceed via a rapid equilibrium random mechanism. The indolocarbazole K-252a, which was previously shown to be a potent and relatively selective inhibitor of trk kinase activity, acts as a competitive inhibitor with respect to ATP. The data suggest that potent and selective kinase inhibitors can be rationally designed by exploring subtle variations surrounding the nucleotide binding sites of receptor tyrosine kinases.