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Abstract

Signal transduction of many growth factors and oncogenes is mediated by 3-phosphoinositide-dependent protein kinase-1 (PDK1), a master regulator of a number of downstream signal protein kinase cascades. Hence, PDK1 represents a convergence point for receptor tyrosine kinase and cytokine-mediated pathways for the regulation of vital cell processes such as cell survival and proliferation. Pathological upregulation of PDK1 signalling due to constitutive growth factor receptor activation and/or PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homologue) mutations significantly triggers downstream signalling, e.g. PKB/Akt, which subsequently promote proliferative events such as tumour invasiveness, angiogenesis, and progression. Consistent with this, a mouse model expressing low levels of PDK1 is protected from tumourigenesis resulting from loss of PTEN. Because more than 50 % of all human cancers possess significant overstimulation of the PDK1 signalling pathway, inhibition of this protein kinase by small molecules is predicted to result in effective inhibition of cancer cell proliferation and thus be therapeutically beneficial. Various classes of small-molecule PDK1 inhibitors have been published in patents and papers. Herein we present for the first time a comprehensive collection of small molecules reported to interact with PDK1, and we refer to their biological characterisation in terms of activity and selectivity for PDK1.