Kinase CK2 Inhibition: An Update

G.      Cozza; L.   A.   Pinna; S.      Moro

Abstract

Protein kinase CK2 (Casein Kinase 2) is an essential, ubiquitous and highly pleiotropic protein kinase, implicated in several human diseases. In the last decade, several inhibitors of CK2, have been discovered and characterized to be ATP-competitive compounds. However, only one of them, CX-4945, has recently completed Phase I clinical trial as potential anticancer drug. In this review, we report all chemical classes of CK2 inhibitors available in literature, focusing our attention on conventional ATP-competitive and on non ATP-competitive inhibitors, which could represent a new frontier in CK2 inhibition and, consequently, a promising field of study in discovering new drug candidates.

Keywords: CK2, protein kinases, enzymes, kinase inhibitors, multi kinase inhibitors, cell cycle, cell signaling, apoptosis, cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, infections.