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Abstract

The present invention describes an improved method for screening compounds for activity in inhibiting the enzymatic activity of Akt1 protein kinase, also known as Protein Kinase B, an enzyme that is believed to play a key role in the inhibition of apoptosis and thus in the etiology of cancer and other conditions, including neurodegenerative diseases. In general, the method comprises: (1) providing a plurality of compounds suspected of having Akt1 kinase inhibitory activity; (2) modeling the docking of each of the plurality of the compounds with a target binding site derived from the crystal structure of a ternary complex involving Akt1, a nonhydrolyzable ATP analogue, and a peptide substrate derived from a physiological AKT substrate such that the protein active site is defined including those residues within a defined distance from the nonhydrolyzable ATP analogue; (3) ranking the docked compounds by goodness of fit; (4) further selecting compounds from compounds high ranked by goodness of fit in docking by using one or more screening criteria; (5) optionally, visually analyzing structures of compounds selected in step (4) to remove any compounds with improbable docking geometry; and (6) experimentally testing the selected compounds from step (4) or step (5), if step (5) is performed, to determine their inhibitory activity against Akt1 in order to select compounds with Akt1 inhibitory activity. The invention also encompasses pharmaceutical compositions including compounds whose inhibitory activity against Akt1 is discovered by the screening method, as well as methods of use of the pharmaceutical compositions to treat cancer and other conditions.

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First Claim