Photoresponsive Kinase Inhibitors

DRA lecture held by Professor Morten Grøtli, University of Gothenburg, Sweden

Photoresponsive ligands, e.g. photoswitch ligands, are established as important novel tools in medicinal chemistry and pharmacology.

Small molecule kinase inhibitors provide a powerful way of studying the in vivo roles of kinases. However, the multiple roles of kinases, both in normal tissue development and maintenance and in development of diseases give a note of caution about potential off-target effects of inhibitors. Strategies for the tissue-specific targeting of kinase activity will therefore be an important consideration when aiming to understand the exact role of kinases in specific tissue. These challenges provide an impetus for the search for novel molecular approaches for dynamically controlling drug activity, bypassing the issues surrounding poor drug selectivity.

In order to address these challenges we are developing photo-responsive small molecule kinase inhibitors. Examples of design, synthesis, characterisation, as well as biological applications of photo-responsive kinase inhibitors will be discussed.

The lecture is organised on behalf of the graduate programme in pharmaceutical sciences, Drug Research Academy, by Professor Trond Ulven, Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen.

The DRA lecture is free of charge and open for attendance by all interested parties.