Mechanism of CK2 Inhibition by a Ruthenium-Based Polyoxometalate.

CK2 is a Ser/Thr protein kinase involved in many cellular processes such as gene expression, cell cycle progression, cell growth and differentiation, embryogenesis, and apoptosis. Aberrantly high CK2 activity is widely documented in cancer, but the enzyme is also involved in several other pathologies, such as diabetes, inflammation, neurodegeneration, and viral infections, including COVID-19. Over the last years, a large number of small-molecules able to inhibit the CK2 activity have been reported, mostly acting with an ATP-competitive mechanism.

Pharmacophore-Based Design of New Chemical Scaffolds as Translational Readthrough-Inducing Drugs (TRIDs).

Translational readthrough-inducing drugs (TRIDs) rescue the functional full-length protein expression in genetic diseases, such as cystic fibrosis, caused by premature termination codons (PTCs). Small molecules have been developed as TRIDs to trick the ribosomal machinery during recognition of the PTC. Herein we report a computational study to identify new TRID scaffolds.

Strategies against Nonsense: Oxadiazoles as Translational Readthrough-Inducing Drugs (TRIDs).

This review focuses on the use of oxadiazoles as translational readthrough-inducing drugs (TRIDs) to rescue the functional full-length protein expression in mendelian genetic diseases caused by nonsense mutations. These mutations in specific genes generate premature termination codons (PTCs) responsible for the translation of truncated proteins. After a brief introduction on nonsense mutations and their pathological effects, the features of various classes of TRIDs will be described discussing differences or similarities in their mechanisms of action.