The discovery of carboline analogs as potent MAPKAP-K2 inhibitors.

The discovery of a series of potent, carboline-based MK2 inhibitors is described. These compounds inhibit MK2 with IC50s as low as 10 nM, as measured in a DELFIA assay. An X-ray crystal structure reveals that they bind in a region near the p-loop and the hinge region of MK2a.

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