Ensemble docking and molecular dynamics identify knoevenagel curcumin derivatives with potent anti-EGFR activity

Epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase (EGFR-TK) is an attractive target for cancer therapy. Despite a number of effective EGFR inhibitors that are constantly expanding and different methods being employed to obtain novel compounds, the search for newer EGFR inhibitors is still a major scientific challenge. In the present study, a molecular docking and molecular dynamics investigation has been carried out with an ensemble of EGFR-TK structures against a synthetically feasible library of curcumin analogs to discover potent EGFR inhibitors. To resolve protein flexibility issue we have utilized 5 EGFR wild type crystal structures during docking as this gives improved possibility of identifying an active compound as compared to using a single crystal structure. We then identified five curcumin analogs representing different scaffolds that can serve as lead molecules. Finally, the 5 ns molecular dynamics simulation shows that knoevenagel condensate of curcumin specifically C29 and C30 can be used as starting blocks for developing effective leads capable of inhibiting EGFR.     

全球生物制药产业发展态势

传统化学制药的黄金时代结束,新化学药品数量下降,而生物技术药物已成为当今最活跃和发展最迅速的领域。随着基因组和蛋白质组研究的深入,越来越多与人类疾病发展相关的靶标被确定,生物制药将有更多的机会获得突破性进展。综述了全球生物制药产业发展的几个态势,主要有：（1）全球生物制药产业的研究成果数量增长迅速;（2）生物制药依然是生物技术产业的重点领域,生物技术药物市场发展规模逐渐扩大,市场集中度高,主要集中于美国和大的跨国公司;（3）生物技术新药在新药研发中的比重越来越大,逐渐成为新药研发主流;（4）生物制药企业间通过加强联盟,来增强新药研发能力和降低新药研发成本;（5）各国政府均重视生物制药产业的发展,出台一系列相关政策。（6）生物疫苗、基因工程药物和基因药物具有良好的市场前景。