Virtual Screening of Argentinian Natural Products to Identify Anti-cancer Aurora Kinase A Inhibitors: A Combined Machine Learning and Molecular Docking Approach

The Aurora kinase A (Aurora-A), overexpressed in cancer cells, represents a promising anti-cancer therapeutic target due to its role in mitotic progression and chromosome instability [1]. Aurora-A contains a recently described drug pocket within its Targeting Protein for Xklp2 (TPX2) interaction site, offering a promising target for small-molecule disruption and selective inhibition [2]. In this study, 1281 natural products from Argentina's database (NaturAr), encompassing chemically diverse and structurally rich metabolites, were evaluated using a machine learning model based on molecular fingerprints and variational autoencoders (VAE) to predict inhibitory activity with high-throughput efficiency [3,4]. From this initial screening, 624 compounds were classified as active type against Aurora-A, and subsequently subjected to molecular docking using FRED software (v4.3.0.3) against the Aurora-A crystal structure (PDB: 5OSD), focusing on the TPX2-binding interface [2,5]. Among them, 117 compounds with various scaffolds showed better binding scores than the co-crystallized ligand, highlighting their potential to interact with the druggable target site through stable and specific molecular contacts. This workflow effectively prioritized compounds of natural origin from Argentina for the discovery of new Aurora-A kinase inhibitors, demonstrating the value of integrating AI-driven screening with structure-based modeling. These findings highlight the identification of novel scaffolds with high binding potential, offering promising starting points for the development of selective Aurora-A inhibitors.