22The Published Kinase Inhibitor Set (PKIS) is a publicly-available chemogenomic library distributed 23 to more than 300 laboratories by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) between 2011-2015 and by SGC-UNC 24 from 2015-2017. Screening this library of well-annotated, published kinase inhibitors has yielded 25 a plethora of data in diverse therapeutic and scientific areas, funded applications, publications, 26 and provided impactful pre-clinical results. Based on kinome-wide screening results, we report a 27 thorough investigation of one PKIS compound, GW296115, as an inhibitor of several members of 28 the Illuminating the Druggable Genome (IDG) list of understudied dark kinases. Specifically,
29GW296115 validates as a potent lead chemical tool that inhibits six IDG kinases with IC50 values 30 less than 100nM. Focused studies establish that GW296115 is cell active, and directly engages 31 BRSK2. Further evaluation showed that GW296115 downregulates BRSK2-driven 32 phosphorylation and downstream signaling. 33 34 Introduction 35 PKIS was assembled to include 367 inhibitors designed, developed, and published by 36 GSK. Both physical samples as well as the selectivity and potency data for PKIS were made 37 publicly available. Compounds were chosen to provide broad coverage of the kinome, selecting 38 diversity in chemical scaffolds and avoiding over-representation of inhibitors targeting each 39 kinase. The composed set was distributed as a physical plate of DMSO stock solutions to all 40 interested investigators free of charge 1 .
41The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently defined a list of proteins labeled as 42 dark/understudied due to a lack of research and reagents to characterize their function. The IDG 43 program was initiated to stimulate exploration of the role of these dark proteins in mediating 44 disease initiation and propagation with the goal of providing IDG-related therapeutic avenues.
45One category of IDG dark proteins is kinases, where a list of 162 dark kinases was curated by 46 the NIH and included in the IDG call for applications.
48the oxidative stress responsive transcription factor NRF2 (nuclear factor erythroid-2-related factor 49 2) 2 . We have reported that overexpression of active BRSK1 or BRSK2 downregulates NRF2 50 protein levels by suppressing protein translation. Focused experiments revealed that BRSK2 51 inhibits MTOR signaling while inducing phosphorylation of AMPK substrates 2 . Although 52 overexpression experiments have demonstrated the importance of BRSK2 in cell signaling, to 53 date, there are no reported small molecule inhibitors to characterize BRSK2 function in cells.
54Therefore, identifying compounds that target this kinase can yield instrumental insights into 55 BRSK2 function.
56Part of our remit for the IDG program is the creation or identification of cell active chemical 57 tools that enable the study of dark kinases. We have taken advantage of public and internal 58 datasets to look for potential inhibitors of IDG kinases. Through analysis of the PKIS data we 59 identified G...