Abstract
Never in mitosis gene A-related kinase 2 (NEK2) a member of serine-threonine kinase protein mainly involved in the cell cycle process. Clinical studies revealed NEK2 overexpression in various tumour types, also NEK2 was reported for their association with genetic abnormalities like mitotic machinery deregulation and chromosomal instability. Besides NEK2 plays a key role in maintaining the transformed phenotype of cancer cells and chemo-resistance of several tumour types. Thus, NEK2 transcriptional profile is important for diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis stages of cancer studies. Screening of novel NEK2 inhibitor would be beneficial in developing the specific lead molecules. Our studies involved NEK2 transcriptional profile search, screening of druggable cavities in NEK2, Drug likeliness of mangrove derived naphthoquinone derivatives avicennoneA , avicennoneB , avicennoneC , avicennoneD , avicenoneE , avicennone F , and avicennone G , avicequinone A, stenocarpoquinone B , avicequinone C , avicenol A , avicenol C,brugine, apigenin, chrysin and molecular docking studies to assess MNC compounds binding efficacy towards NEK2. Mangrove derived compounds conferred the intermolecular hydrogen bond, Pi-alkyl,pi-cation interactions with NEK2 kinase domain region residues Tyr 19, Lys 37, Arg 164, Lys174. Nearly 200 kinase proteins contained this promising Cys 22 residue as its positioned in the catalytic site like NEK family proteins. Avicenna A, Avicennone G, Chrysin and Brugine formed the irreversible covalent binding with NEK2 through Cys 22, thus they can be considered as potential kinase inhibitors with the limited off-target response. But these MNC compounds need to be tested further in invitro and invivo studies to propose as potent NEK2 inhibitors.