Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40949115›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in pharmacology2025

Mohd Shahnawaz Khan, Anas Shamsi, Azna Zuberi, Moyad Shahwan

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in pharmacology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Mohd Shahnawaz KhanDepartment of Biochemistry, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Anas ShamsiCentre of Medical and Bio-Allied Health Sciences Research, Ajman University, Ajman, United Arab Emirates.
Azna ZuberiDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States.
Moyad ShahwanDepartment of Clinical Sciences, College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Ajman University, Ajman, United Arab Emirates.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The dual specificity mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 1 (MEK1) is a critical node in the RAS-RAF-MEK-ERK signaling pathway, frequently dysregulated in cancers due to mutations in upstream regulators. Despite the development of MEK inhibitors, challenges such as on-target toxicities and drug resistance persist that emphasize the need for novel therapeutic strategies. Drug repurposing offers a fast and cost-effective alternative by leveraging existing FDA-approved compounds with established safety profiles. This study employed computational approaches to identify repurposed MEK1 inhibitors through structure-based virtual screening of 3,500 FDA-approved drugs. The MEK1 crystal structure was subjected to molecular docking using InstaDock, followed by biological activity prediction, interaction analysis, and 500-ns molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to assess stability. Radotinib and Alectinib exhibited superior docking scores (-10.5 and -10.2 kcal/mol), outperforming the reference MEK1 inhibitor Selumetinib (-7.2 kcal/mol). MD simulations revealed stable drug complexes, with lower root mean square deviation (RMSD) and fluctuations (RMSF) than Selumetinib. Principal component analysis and free energy landscapes corroborated their conformational stability, suggesting robust binding to MEK1's allosteric pocket. Radotinib interacted extensively with key residues, including Gly79 and Lys97 at the ATP-binding site, while Alectinib engaged critical residues such as Arg189 and His239. Their superior binding and conformational stability suggest the potential to overcome resistance and toxicity issues associated with existing MEK inhibitors. The structural and dynamic superiority of Radotinib and Alectinib over Selumetinib positions them as promising repurposed MEK1 inhibitors, potentially circumventing the clinical challenges of existing therapies. A limitation of this

Indexed as

cancerdrug repurposingdual specificity mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 1small molecule inhibitorsvirtual screening

Identifiers

PMID40949115
PMCPMC12426037

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.