Modelling of insulin receptor tyrosine kinase in its active form: A case study for validation of theoretical methods

An active form of an insulin receptor tyrosine kinase (IRK) catalytic core was modelled based on its experimentally known inactive form and the active form of a serine/threonine kinase, protein kinase A (PRA). This theoretica l model was compared with the crystallographic structure of the active form of IRK reported later. The structures are very similar, which shows that a ll the most important features and interactions have been taken into accoun t in the modelling procedure. The elaborated procedure can be applied to ot her tyrosine kinases. This would allow designing of a wide class of tyrosin e kinase inhibitors, very important potential anti-cancer and/or anti-viral drugs.