In silico approach to identify potential inhibitors for Axl-Gas6 signaling

Abstract

Axl-Gas6 signaling plays an important role in numerous cancers. Axl kinase, a member of receptor tyrosine kinase family is activated by different mechanisms with Gas6 as its major activator. Targeting the Axl with inhibitors may block the binding of Gas6 and further hinders the activation of Axl. This in turn inhibits the Axl-Gas6 signaling. Thus, inhibitors of the Axl kinase may serve as ideal drug candidates for treating many human cancers. In this study we carried out virtual screening of drug-like molecules from ZINC database to identify potential inhibitors for Axl kinase. Our virtual screening study showed that ZINC83758120, ZINC34079369, and ZINC83758121 are potential drug-like lead molecules to inhibit Axl kinase.