Comparative docking analysis of tyrosine kinase inhibitors with HER2 and HER4 receptors

Tyrosine kinase receptors promote the growth and differentiation of normal breast and malignant human breast cancer cells, known as ERBB receptors. Various ERBB receptors are EGFR/ErbB1 and ErbB2/neu, which get over expressed in different solid tumors that activate upon binding of ligand to the extra cellular domain of these receptors. Of note, the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is a prime contributor to cancer through the involvement of four receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs), namely, HER1, HER2, HER3, and HER4. Among them, HER2 and HER4 are majorly associated with breast cancer. Non-peptide quinazoline compounds homologous of the adenosine triphosphate (ATP) are competitively inhibited to RTKs to prevent cancer growth and metastasis. Various small drug molecule that targets the RTKs having the same scaffold, includes Lapatinib, Tivozanib, Erlotinib, Gefitinib, Crizotinib, and Ceritinib. The present study aims to investigate the comparative potential of structurally similar TKIs against HER2 and HER4 receptor receptors-silico molecular docking using FlexX software (LeadIT 2.3.2). Each docked complex's interaction profile was performed using BIOVIA Discovery Studio Visualizer 4.0. Molecular docking analysis was performed in order to get deeper insights into the interaction and binding pattern of the ligands with HER2 and HER4 receptors. The docking results revealed the Lapatinib compound acquired the relatively highest binding score of -32.36 kcal/mol and -35.76 kcal/mol with HER2 and HER4 proteins, respectively, concerning other compounds. Lapatinib is identified as a potential inhibitor for both the RTKs. Our study thus suggests the probable direction that could be further explored in inhibiting EGFR protein harboring breast cancer.