Cyclin dependent kinase 1 inhibitors: a review of recent progress

Abstract

Cyclin dependent kinases (CDKs) are a family of proteins involved in the regulation of cell cycle progression and attractive targets in oncology. The regulation of CDKs activities is achieved by their association with cyclin partners and kinases, phosphatases and specific inhibitors. Different CDKs complexes exert their functions at different phases. CDK1 is a master modulator in the initiation and transition process through mitosis of the cell cycle. Previous studies have shown that loss of CDK1 activity or the aberrant expression of CDK1 involved in G2 phase arrest and many tumor types, thereby validating CDK1 as a therapeutic target. Therefore, a surge of interest has been devoted to searching for potent CDK1 inhibitors as effective chemotherapeutic agents. Herein we focus, in this review, mainly on the studies about the structure, functions and different structure classes of potent CDK1 inhibitors.