PMID: 14766749 , Related PDB ids: 1SM2, 1SNU, 1SNX

Authors:

Brown K, Long JM, Vial SC, Dedi N, Dunster NJ, Renwick SB, Tanner AJ, Frantz JD, Fleming MA, Cheetham GM

Title:

Crystal structures of interleukin-2 tyrosine kinase and their implications for the design of selective inhibitors.

Journal:

J Biol Chem. 2004 Apr 30;279(18):18727-32. Epub 2004 Feb 6.

Abstract:

Interleukin-2 tyrosine kinase, Itk, is an important member of the Tec family of non-receptor tyrosine kinases that play a central role in signaling through antigen receptors such as the T-cell receptor, B-cell receptor, and Fcepsilon. Selective inhibition of Itk may be an important way of modulating many diseases involving heightened or inappropriate activation of the immune system. In addition to an unliganded nonphophorylated Itk catalytic kinase domain, we determined the crystal structures of the phosphorylated and nonphosphorylated kinase domain bound to staurosporine, a potent broad-spectrum kinase inhibitor. These structures are useful for the design of novel, highly potent and selective Itk inhibitors and provide insight into the influence of inhibitor binding and phosphorylation on the conformation of Itk.