Structure-based design of novel potent protein kinase CK2 (CK2) inhibitors with phenyl-azole scaffolds.

Protein kinase CK2 (CK2) is a ubiquitous serine/threonine protein kinase for hundreds of endogenous substrates. CK2 has been considered to be involved in many diseases, including cancers. Herein we report the discovery of a novel ATP-competitive CK2 inhibitor. Virtual screening of a compound library led to the identification of a hit 2-phenyl-1,3,4-thiadiazole compound. Subsequent structural optimization resulted in the identification of a promising 4-(thiazol-5-yl)benzoic acid derivative.