Title: In silico pathway analysis of MAPKs and computational investigation of bipyrazole analogues as novel p38alpha MAPK inhibitors

Authors: Deepak Nedunuri; Yesu babu Adimulam; Kiran Kumar Reddi

Addresses: Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Sir C.R. Reddy College of Engineering, Eluru 534007, Andhra Pradesh, India ' Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Sir C.R. Reddy College of Engineering, Eluru 534007, Andhra Pradesh, India ' Department of Computer Science, Krishna University, Machilipatnam 521001, Andhra Pradesh, India

Abstract: Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) belongs to one of the largest super-families of proteins. The activity of most MAPKs is stimulated by a large variety of signals, including mitogens, growth factors, cytokines, T-cell antigens, pheromones, UV and ionising radiations, osmotic stress, heat shock, oxidative stress and others. The present work determines the participation of particular MAPK to one specific pathway in the MAPKinase signalling (MAPK 1-14). Various computational analyses involving Clustal omega, phylogenetic tree reconstruction and ProDom have been utilised in the study. Based on evolutionary relationships, domain detections and comparison of active site residues, the specificity of MAPKs in defined pathways is emphasised. MAPKs have been shown to play a pivotal role in diverse diseases, including cancer. Majority of studies have focused on targeting p38 MAPK isoform alpha (MAPK14). Hence, in this paper we elucidate a computational mechanism of inhibition by bipyrazole analogues, for the first time, as promising inhibitors of p38alpha MAPK.

Keywords: MAPK signalling; mitogen-activated protein kinase; in silico pathway analysis; bipyrazole analogues; domains; active site residues; p38alpha MAPK inhibitors; bioinformatics; proteins; cancer.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBRA.2016.075395

International Journal of Bioinformatics Research and Applications, 2016 Vol.12 No.1, pp.1 - 18

Received: 09 Apr 2015
Accepted: 27 Jul 2015

Published online: 19 Mar 2016 *

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