Targeting of the protein interaction site between FAK and IGF-1R

Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2009 Oct 16;388(2):301-5. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2009.07.156. Epub 2009 Aug 5.

Abstract

The interaction of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R) plays an important role in cancer cell survival. Targeting this interaction with small molecule drugs could be a novel strategy in cancer therapy. By a series of pull-down assays using GST-tagged FAK fragments and His-tagged IGF-1R intracellular fragments, we showed that the FAK-NT2 (a.a. 127-243) domain directly interacts with the N-terminal part of the IGF-1R intracellular domain. Overexpressed FAK-NT2 domain was also shown to co-localize with IGF-1R in pancreatic cells. Computational modeling was used to predict the binding configuration of these two domains and to screen for small molecules binding to the interaction site. This strategy successfully identified a lead compound that disrupts FAK/IGF-1R interaction.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Focal Adhesion Kinase 1 / chemistry
  • Focal Adhesion Kinase 1 / genetics
  • Focal Adhesion Kinase 1 / metabolism*
  • Humans
  • Models, Molecular
  • Pancreatic Neoplasms / enzymology*
  • Protein Conformation
  • Protein Interaction Domains and Motifs*
  • Protein Interaction Mapping
  • Receptor, IGF Type 1 / chemistry
  • Receptor, IGF Type 1 / genetics
  • Receptor, IGF Type 1 / metabolism*

Substances

  • Receptor, IGF Type 1
  • Focal Adhesion Kinase 1
  • PTK2 protein, human