Finding the way in the jungle of kinase drug targets

Kinase inhibitors are developed for the treatment of various diseases. Because multiple factors control disease progression and kinases are part of large nonlinear networks, it is complicated to predict which kinase is the best to target. We substantiate the need for Systems Biology to assist in dealing with this complexity. Then, we discuss some of its contributions to kinase drug discovery with potential implications for the validation of kinases as drug targets and some of its present limitations.

Section editor:Dr. SL Carney – Drug Discovery Today, Elsevier Ltd., 32 Jamestown Road, London, NW1 7BY, UK