The target landscape of clinical kinase drugs

Susan Klaeger, Stephanie Heinzlmeir, Mathias Wilhelm, Harald Polzer, Binje Vick, Paul-Albert Koenig, Maria Reinecke, Benjamin Ruprecht, Svenja Petzoldt, Chen Meng, Jana Zecha, Katrin Reiter, Huichao Qiao, Dominic Helm, Heiner Koch, Melanie Schoof, Giulia Canevari, Elena Casale, Stefania Re Depaolini, Annette Feuchtinger, Zhixiang Wu, Tobias Schmidt, Lars Rueckert, Wilhelm Becker, Jan Huenges, Anne-Kathrin Garz, Bjoern-Oliver Gohlke, Daniel Paul Zolg, Gian Kayser, Tonu Vooder, Robert Preissner, Hannes Hahne, Neeme Tõnisson, Karl Kramer, Katharina Götze, Florian Bassermann, Judith Schlegl, Hans-Christian Ehrlich, Stephan Aiche, Axel Walch, Philipp A. Greif, Sabine Schneider, Eduard Rudolf Felder, Juergen Ruland, Guillaume Médard, Irmela Jeremias, Karsten Spiekermann, Bernhard Kuster

Science, 2017
DOI: 10.1126/science.aan4368

Kinase inhibitors are an important class of drugs that block certain enzymes involved in diseases such as cancer and inflammatory disorders. There are hundreds of kinases within the human body, so knowing the kinase “target” of each drug is essential for developing successful treatment strategies. Sometimes clinical trials can fail because drugs bind more than one target. Yet sometimes off-target effects can be beneficial, and drugs can be repurposed for treatment of additional diseases. Klaeger et al. performed a comprehensive analysis of 243 kinase inhibitors that are either approved for use or in clinical trials. They provide an open-access resource of target summaries that could help researchers develop better drugs, understand how existing drugs work, and design more effective clinical trials.