Identification of novel candidate compounds targeting TrkB to induce apoptosis in neuroblastoma.

ABSTRACT: Neuroblastoma (NB) is one of the most frequent solid tumors in children and its prognosis is still poor. The neurotrophin receptor TrkB and its ligand brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) are expressed at high levels in high-risk NBs and are involved in defining the poor prognosis of the patients. However, the TrkB targeting therapy has never been realized in the clinic. We performed an in silico screening procedure utilizing an AutoDock/grid computing technology in order to identify novel small chemical compounds targeting the BDNF-binding domain of TrkB. For the first screening, a library of three million synthetic compounds was screened in silico and was ranked according to the Docking energy. The top-ranked 37 compounds were further functionally screened for cytotoxicity by using N

SUBMITTER: Nakamura Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3930387 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature