TY - JOUR
T1 - MEK inhibitors in cancer treatment: structural insights, regulation, recent advances and future perspectives
AU - Ram, Teja
AU - Singh, Ankit Kumar
AU - Kumar, Adarsh
AU - Singh, Harshwardhan
AU - Pathak, Prateek
AU - Grishina, Maria
AU - Khalilullah, Habibullah
AU - Poulson, Benjamin Gabriel
AU - Emwas, Abdul-Hamid M.
AU - Verma, Amita
AU - Kumar, Pradeep
N1 - KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2023-09-05
Acknowledgements: The authors are thankful to DST-FIST, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda, for providing the necessary facilities to compose this manuscript. PP and MG acknowledge South Ural State University, Chelyabinsk, Russia under the Priority 2030 program.
PY - 2023/8/10
Y1 - 2023/8/10
N2 - MEK1/2 are critical components of the RAS–RAF–MEK–ERK or MAPK signalling pathway that regulates a variety of cellular functions including proliferation, survival, and differentiation. In 1997, a lung cancer cell line was first found to have a MEK mutation (encoding MEK2P298L). MEK is involved in various human cancers such as non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), spurious melanoma, and pancreatic, colorectal, basal, breast, and liver cancer. To date, 4 MEK inhibitors i.e., trametinib, cobimetinib, selumetinib, and binimetinib have been approved by the FDA and several are under clinical trials. In this review, we have highlighted structural insights into the MEK1/2 proteins, such as the αC-helix, catalytic loop, P-loop, F-helix, hydrophobic pocket, and DFG motif. We have also discussed current issues with all FDA-approved MEK inhibitors or drugs under clinical trials and combination therapies to improve the efficacy of clinical drugs. Finally, this study addressed recent developments on synthetic MEK inhibitors (from their discovery in 1997 to 2022), their unique properties, and their relevance to MEK mutant inhibition.
AB - MEK1/2 are critical components of the RAS–RAF–MEK–ERK or MAPK signalling pathway that regulates a variety of cellular functions including proliferation, survival, and differentiation. In 1997, a lung cancer cell line was first found to have a MEK mutation (encoding MEK2P298L). MEK is involved in various human cancers such as non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), spurious melanoma, and pancreatic, colorectal, basal, breast, and liver cancer. To date, 4 MEK inhibitors i.e., trametinib, cobimetinib, selumetinib, and binimetinib have been approved by the FDA and several are under clinical trials. In this review, we have highlighted structural insights into the MEK1/2 proteins, such as the αC-helix, catalytic loop, P-loop, F-helix, hydrophobic pocket, and DFG motif. We have also discussed current issues with all FDA-approved MEK inhibitors or drugs under clinical trials and combination therapies to improve the efficacy of clinical drugs. Finally, this study addressed recent developments on synthetic MEK inhibitors (from their discovery in 1997 to 2022), their unique properties, and their relevance to MEK mutant inhibition.
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10754/694108
UR - http://xlink.rsc.org/?DOI=D3MD00145H
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85168740191&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1039/d3md00145h
DO - 10.1039/d3md00145h
M3 - Article
C2 - 37859720
SN - 2040-2503
JO - RSC Medicinal Chemistry
JF - RSC Medicinal Chemistry
ER -