Identification of High-Affinity Inhibitors of TANK-Binding Kinase 1 (TBK1): A Promising Frontier for Controlling Inflammatory Signaling in Cancer

Background: TANK-binding kinase 1 (TBK1) is an important serine/threonine kinase involved in inflammatory signaling path-ways, influencing cellular processes such as proliferation, programmed cell death, autophagy, and immune response regulation. Dysregulation of TBK1 has been linked to cancer progression and neurodegenerative disorders, making it an attractive target for therapeutic development. This study aimed to identify potential TBK1 inhibitors using a structure-based virtual screening approach. Methods: We conducted a comprehensive screening of the ZINC database to identify compounds with high binding affinity for TBK1, employing molecular docking as the primary selection criterion. The top candidates were then subjected to extensive 200 ns molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to assess the conformational dynamics of TBK1 and the stability of the protein-ligand complexes, with a focus on ZINC02095133 and ZINC02130647. Results: The findings revealed that TBK1 forms stable complexes with ZINC02095133 and ZINC02130647, demonstrating con-sistent interactions throughout the MD simulations. This suggests that these compounds hold promise as potential lead molecules for future therapies targeting TBK1. Conclusions: This study identifies ZINC02095133 and ZINC02130647 as promising TBK1 inhibitors with therapeutic potential. However, further experimental validation and optimization are required to develop novel inhibitors for diseased conditions as-sociated with TBK1 signaling. These findings pave the way for future investigations into the clinical utility of these compounds in combating TBK1-related pathologies.