Identification of ellagic acid as potent inhibitor of protein kinase CK2: a successful example of a virtual screening application.

Casein kinase 2 (CK2) is a ubiquitous, essential, and highly pleiotropic protein kinase whose abnormally high constitutive activity is suspected to underlie its pathogenic potential in neoplasia and other diseases. Using a virtual screening approach, we have identified the ellagic acid, a naturally occurring tannic acid derivative, as a novel potent CK2 inhibitor. At present, ellagic acid represents the most potent known CK2 inhibitor (K(i) = 20 nM).