Benzo[e]pyrimido[5,4-b][1,4]diazepin-6(11H-one derivatives as Aurora A kinase inhibitors: LQTA-QSAR analysis and detailed systematic validation of the developed model

Aurora kinases are sub-divided into Aurora A, Aurora B, and Aurora C kinases that are considered as prospective targets for a new class of anticancer drugs. In this work, a 4-D-QSAR model using an LQTA-QSAR approach with previously reported 31 derivatives of benzo[e]pyrimido[5,4 -b][1,4]diazepin -6(11H-one as potent Aurora kinase A inhibitors has been created. Instead of single conformation, the conformational ensemble profile generated for each ligand by using trajectories and topology information retrieved from molecular dynamics simulations from GROMACS package were aligned and used for the calculation of intermolecular interaction energies at each grid point. The descriptors generated on the basis of these Coulomb and Lennard-Jones potentials as independent variables were used to perform a PLS analysis using biological activity as dependent variable. A good predictive model was generated with nine field descriptors and five latent variables. The model showed (Formula presented.) = 0.718; R²=0.915 and (Formula presented.). This model was further validated systematically by using different validation parameters. This 4D-QSAR model gave valuable information to recognize features essential to adapt and develop novel potential Aurora kinase inhibitors.