Given the functional attributes of Doublecortin-like kinase 1 (DCLK1) in tumor growth, invasion, metastasis, cell motility, and tumor stemness, it is emerging as a therapeutic target in gastrointestinal cancers. Although a series of specific or nonspecific ATP-competitive inhibitors were identified against DCLK1, different types of scaffolds that can be utilized for the development of highly selective inhibitors or structural understanding of binding specificities of the compounds remain limited. Here, we present our work to repurpose a Janus kinase 1 inhibitor, ruxolitinib as a DCLK1 inhibitor, showing micromolar binding affinity and inhibitory activity. Furthermore, to gain an insight into its interaction mode with DCLK1, a crystal structure of the ruxolitinib-complexed DCLK1 has been determined and analyzed. Ruxolitinib as a nonspecific DCLK1 inhibitor characterized in this work is anticipated to provide a starting point for the structure-guided discovery of selective DCLK1 inhibitors.
Keywords: ATP-competitive inhibitor; DCLK1; anticancer; doublecortin-like kinase 1; kinase inhibitor; structure-based drug discovery.