Kinase inhibition by the Jamaican ball moss, Tillandsia recurvata L.
BACKGROUND
This research was undertaken in order to investigate the inhibitory potential of the Jamaican ball moss, Tillandsia recurvata against several kinases. The inhibition of these kinases has emerged as a potential solution to restoring the tight regulation of normal cellular growth, the loss of which leads to cancer cell formation.


METHODS
Kinase inhibition was investigated using competition binding (to the ATP sites) assays, which have been previously established and authenticated.


RESULTS
Four hundred and fifty one kinases were tested against the Jamaican ball moss extract and a dose-response was tested on 40 kinases, which were inhibited by more than 35% compared to the control. Out of the 40 kinases, the Jamaican ball moss selectively inhibited 5 (CSNK2A2, MEK5, GAK, FLT and DRAK1) and obtained Kd(50)s were below 20 μg/ml.


CONCLUSIONS
Since MEK5 and GAK kinases have been associated with aggressive prostate cancer, the inhibitory properties of the ball moss against them, coupled with its previously found bioactivity towards the PC-3 cell line, makes it promising in the arena of drug discovery towards prostate cancer.
Bio-Tech R&D Institute, Kingston, Jamaica.
Henry I C
HI
Lowe
Charah T
CT
Watson
Simone
S
Badal
Ngeh J
NJ
Toyang
Joseph
J
Bryant
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001688:Biological Products / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D057809:HEK293 Cells; D006801:Humans; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry; D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D031232:Tillandsia / Q000737:chemistry*
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D001688:Biological Products; D010936:Plant Extracts; D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors