Screening of break point cluster region Abelson tyrosine kinase inhibitors by capillary electrophoresis

In the present study, a capillary electrophoresis (CE) method was developed for screening of inhibitors against the break point cluster region Abelson tyrosine kinase (BCR-ABL). The screening method was established by using 5-carboxyfluorescein labeled peptide substrate of BCR-ABL (F-ABLS), a known BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase inhibitor dasatinib, as well as a small chemical library consisting of 37 natural products. Thus, the inhibition of BCL-ABL kinase by small inhibitors was assayed by a CE system equipped with the laser induced fluorescence detector. The yield of phosphorylated product could be precisely measured through the separation by CE. The method is competent for enzymatic inhibition assay as well as the measurement of the inhibition kinetics. For screening BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase inhibitors, the hits were readily identified once the peak area of the phosphorylated products was reduced in comparison with the negative control. By taking the advantage of the screening method, luteolin and epicatechin gallate were discovered as the new BCR-ABL inhibitors.