Anti-CLK4 (aa 48-77) polyclonal antibody

The dual specificity tyrosine-phosphorylation-regulated kinase DYRK1A possesses diverse roles in neuronal development and adult brain physiology, and increased activity has been linked to neurodegenerative diseases. Very few inhibitors of this kinase have been reported up to now. Screening of a library of > 900 plant and fungal extracts afforded 25 extracts with IC(50)s < 10 mu g/mL against DYRK1A. To identify the active constituents, the extracts were submitted to a process integrating physicochemical data with biological information, referred to as HPLC-based activity profiling. Follow-up investigation of four extracts led to the targeted isolation of harmine (1, IC50 0.022 mu M) from Peganum harmala, emodin (3, IC50 4.2 mu M) from Cassia nigricans, kaempferol (4, IC50 0.91 mu M) from Cuscuta chinensis, and 3,8-di-O-methylherbacetin (11, IC50 8.6 mu M), 3,3', 4'-tri-O-methylmyricetin (12, IC50 7.1 mu M) and ombuin (15, IC50 1.7 mu M) from Larrea tridentata as the active constituents. Active extracts and compounds were also tested on the closely related cdc2-like kinase CLK1. Finally, the selectivity profile of compounds was evaluated by including other members of the DYRKs and CLKs families. While the flavonoids and emodin did not show significant differences in the potency of their activities, harmine (1) was most active against DYRK1A, CLK1, and CLK4, and less potent against the other kinases, with selectivity ranging from 2- to 20-fold.

CLK2 inhibition has been proposed as a potential mechanism to improve autism and neuronal functions in Phelan-McDermid syndrome (PMDS). Herein, the discovery of a very potent indazole CLK inhibitor series and the CLK2 X-ray structure of the most potent analogue are reported. This new indazole series was identified through a biochemical CLK2 Caliper assay screen with 30k compounds selected by an in silico approach. Novel high-resolution X-ray structures of all CLKs, including the first CLK4 X-ray structure, bound to known CLK2 inhibitor tool compounds (e.g., TG003, CX-4945), are also shown and yield insight into inhibitor selectivity in the CLK family. The efficacy of the new CLK2 inhibitors from the indazole series was demonstrated in the mouse brain slice assay, and potential safety concerns were investigated. Genotoxicity findings in the human lymphocyte micronucleus test (MNT) assay are shown by using two structurally different CLK inhibitors to reveal a major concern for pan-CLK inhibition in PMDS.