TYROSINE KINASES AS TARGET FOR THE SYNTHESIS OF ANTI-ANGIOGENIC AND ANTI-CANCER COMPOUNDS

We have considered the Tyrosine Kinases (TKs) as a specific target for anticancer therapies because they are involved in several cellular functions, such as proliferation, invasive growth, mobility, angiogenesis and apoptosis inhibition. In addition, some studies have shown that TKs overexpression in cancer cells, can lead to highly active anticancer compounds with higher selectivity and less side effects than the classic chemotherapy. In particular we focus our attention on two different targets: Met receptor (crucial for genetic program causing cellular scattering, a mechanism implicated in new blood vessels formation and metastatic process) and Abelson tyrosine kinase (that has a relevant role in chronic myeloid leukemia). With this purpose we have synthesized two quality collections of compounds structurally based on molecular modelling studies.