1
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Mervin L, Voronov A, Kabeshov M, Engkvist O. QSARtuna: An Automated QSAR Modeling Platform for Molecular Property Prediction in Drug Design. J Chem Inf Model 2024; 64:5365-5374. [PMID: 38950185 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.4c00457] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/03/2024]
Abstract
Machine-learning (ML) and deep-learning (DL) approaches to predict the molecular properties of small molecules are increasingly deployed within the design-make-test-analyze (DMTA) drug design cycle to predict molecular properties of interest. Despite this uptake, there are only a few automated packages to aid their development and deployment that also support uncertainty estimation, model explainability, and other key aspects of model usage. This represents a key unmet need within the field, and the large number of molecular representations and algorithms (and associated parameters) means it is nontrivial to robustly optimize, evaluate, reproduce, and deploy models. Here, we present QSARtuna, a molecule property prediction modeling pipeline, written in Python and utilizing the Optuna, Scikit-learn, RDKit, and ChemProp packages, which enables the efficient and automated comparison between molecular representations and machine learning models. The platform was developed by considering the increasingly important aspect of model uncertainty quantification and explainability by design. We provide details for our framework and provide illustrative examples to demonstrate the capability of the software when applied to simple molecular property, reaction/reactivity prediction, and DNA encoded library enrichment classification. We hope that the release of QSARtuna will further spur innovation in automatic ML modeling and provide a platform for education of best practices in molecular property modeling. The code for the QSARtuna framework is made freely available via GitHub.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lewis Mervin
- Molecular AI, Discovery Sciences, R&D, AstraZeneca, Cambridge CB2 0AA, United Kingdom
| | - Alexey Voronov
- Molecular AI, Discovery Sciences, R&D, AstraZeneca, Gothenburg 412 96, Sweden
| | - Mikhail Kabeshov
- Molecular AI, Discovery Sciences, R&D, AstraZeneca, Gothenburg 412 96, Sweden
| | - Ola Engkvist
- Molecular AI, Discovery Sciences, R&D, AstraZeneca, Gothenburg 412 96, Sweden
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Gothenburg, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg 412 96, Sweden
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2
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Fan Z, Yu J, Zhang X, Chen Y, Sun S, Zhang Y, Chen M, Xiao F, Wu W, Li X, Zheng M, Luo X, Wang D. Reducing overconfident errors in molecular property classification using Posterior Network. PATTERNS (NEW YORK, N.Y.) 2024; 5:100991. [PMID: 39005492 PMCID: PMC11240180 DOI: 10.1016/j.patter.2024.100991] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2023] [Revised: 12/20/2023] [Accepted: 04/15/2024] [Indexed: 07/16/2024]
Abstract
Deep-learning-based classification models are increasingly used for predicting molecular properties in drug development. However, traditional classification models using the Softmax function often give overconfident mispredictions for out-of-distribution samples, highlighting a critical lack of accurate uncertainty estimation. Such limitations can result in substantial costs and should be avoided during drug development. Inspired by advances in evidential deep learning and Posterior Network, we replaced the Softmax function with a normalizing flow to enhance the uncertainty estimation ability of the model in molecular property classification. The proposed strategy was evaluated across diverse scenarios, including simulated experiments based on a synthetic dataset, ADMET predictions, and ligand-based virtual screening. The results demonstrate that compared with the vanilla model, the proposed strategy effectively alleviates the problem of giving overconfident but incorrect predictions. Our findings support the promising application of evidential deep learning in drug development and offer a valuable framework for further research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhehuan Fan
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road, Shanghai 201203, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Jie Yu
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road, Shanghai 201203, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Xiang Zhang
- School of Chinese Materia Medica, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210023, China
| | - Yijie Chen
- School of Chinese Materia Medica, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210023, China
| | - Shihui Sun
- School of Chinese Materia Medica, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210023, China
| | - Yuanyuan Zhang
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road, Shanghai 201203, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Mingan Chen
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road, Shanghai 201203, China
- School of Physical Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai 201210, China
- Lingang Laboratory, Shanghai 200031, China
| | - Fu Xiao
- School of Chinese Materia Medica, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210023, China
| | - Wenyong Wu
- Lingang Laboratory, Shanghai 200031, China
| | - Xutong Li
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road, Shanghai 201203, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Mingyue Zheng
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road, Shanghai 201203, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049, China
- School of Chinese Materia Medica, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210023, China
| | - Xiaomin Luo
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zuchongzhi Road, Shanghai 201203, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049, China
- School of Chinese Materia Medica, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210023, China
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3
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Daina A, Zoete V. Testing the predictive power of reverse screening to infer drug targets, with the help of machine learning. Commun Chem 2024; 7:105. [PMID: 38724725 PMCID: PMC11082207 DOI: 10.1038/s42004-024-01179-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2023] [Accepted: 04/16/2024] [Indexed: 05/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Estimating protein targets of compounds based on the similarity principle-similar molecules are likely to show comparable bioactivity-is a long-standing strategy in drug research. Having previously quantified this principle, we present here a large-scale evaluation of its predictive power for inferring macromolecular targets by reverse screening an unprecedented vast external test set of more than 300,000 active small molecules against another bioactivity set of more than 500,000 compounds. We show that machine-learning can predict the correct targets, with the highest probability among 2069 proteins, for more than 51% of the external molecules. The strong enrichment thus obtained demonstrates its usefulness in supporting phenotypic screens, polypharmacology, or repurposing. Moreover, we quantified the impact of the bioactivity knowledge available for proteins in terms of number and diversity of actives. Finally, we advise that developers of such approaches follow an application-oriented benchmarking strategy and use large, high-quality, non-overlapping datasets as provided here.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antoine Daina
- Molecular Modeling Group, SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Vincent Zoete
- Molecular Modeling Group, SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland.
- Computer-Aided Molecular Engineering, Department of Oncology UNIL-CHUV, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Lausanne Branch, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
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4
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Zhu Y, Yang H, Han L, Mervin LH, Hosseini-Gerami L, Li P, Wright P, Trapotsi MA, Liu K, Fan TP, Bender A. In silico prediction and biological assessment of novel angiogenesis modulators from traditional Chinese medicine. Front Pharmacol 2023; 14:1116081. [PMID: 36817116 PMCID: PMC9937659 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1116081] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2022] [Accepted: 01/20/2023] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Uncontrolled angiogenesis is a common denominator underlying many deadly and debilitating diseases such as myocardial infarction, chronic wounds, cancer, and age-related macular degeneration. As the current range of FDA-approved angiogenesis-based medicines are far from meeting clinical demands, the vast reserve of natural products from traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) offers an alternative source for developing pro-angiogenic or anti-angiogenic modulators. Here, we investigated 100 traditional Chinese medicine-derived individual metabolites which had reported gene expression in MCF7 cell lines in the Gene Expression Omnibus (GSE85871). We extracted literature angiogenic activities for 51 individual metabolites, and subsequently analysed their predicted targets and differentially expressed genes to understand their mechanisms of action. The angiogenesis phenotype was used to generate decision trees for rationalising the poly-pharmacology of known angiogenesis modulators such as ferulic acid and curculigoside and validated by an in vitro endothelial tube formation assay and a zebrafish model of angiogenesis. Moreover, using an in silico model we prospectively examined the angiogenesis-modulating activities of the remaining 49 individual metabolites. In vitro, tetrahydropalmatine and 1 beta-hydroxyalantolactone stimulated, while cinobufotalin and isoalantolactone inhibited endothelial tube formation. In vivo, ginsenosides Rb3 and Rc, 1 beta-hydroxyalantolactone and surprisingly cinobufotalin, restored angiogenesis against PTK787-induced impairment in zebrafish. In the absence of PTK787, deoxycholic acid and ursodeoxycholic acid did not affect angiogenesis. Despite some limitations, these results suggest further refinements of in silico prediction combined with biological assessment will be a valuable platform for accelerating the research and development of natural products from traditional Chinese medicine and understanding their mechanisms of action, and also for other traditional medicines for the prevention and treatment of angiogenic diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yingli Zhu
- Department of Clinical Chinese Pharmacy, School of Chinese Material Medica, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China,Department of Chemistry, Center for Molecular Science Informatics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom,Department of Pharmacology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Hongbin Yang
- Department of Chemistry, Center for Molecular Science Informatics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Liwen Han
- Engineering Research Center of Zebrafish Models for Human Diseases and Drug Screening of Shandong Province, Biology Institute, Qilu University of Technology, Shandong Academy of Sciences, Jinan, China,School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Science, Shandong First Medical University, Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, China
| | - Lewis H. Mervin
- Department of Chemistry, Center for Molecular Science Informatics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Layla Hosseini-Gerami
- Department of Chemistry, Center for Molecular Science Informatics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Peihai Li
- Engineering Research Center of Zebrafish Models for Human Diseases and Drug Screening of Shandong Province, Biology Institute, Qilu University of Technology, Shandong Academy of Sciences, Jinan, China
| | - Peter Wright
- Department of Chemistry, Center for Molecular Science Informatics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Maria-Anna Trapotsi
- Department of Chemistry, Center for Molecular Science Informatics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Kechun Liu
- Engineering Research Center of Zebrafish Models for Human Diseases and Drug Screening of Shandong Province, Biology Institute, Qilu University of Technology, Shandong Academy of Sciences, Jinan, China
| | - Tai-Ping Fan
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom,*Correspondence: Tai-Ping Fan, ; Andreas Bender,
| | - Andreas Bender
- Department of Chemistry, Center for Molecular Science Informatics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom,*Correspondence: Tai-Ping Fan, ; Andreas Bender,
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5
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Rodríguez-Pérez R, Trunzer M, Schneider N, Faller B, Gerebtzoff G. Multispecies Machine Learning Predictions of In Vitro Intrinsic Clearance with Uncertainty Quantification Analyses. Mol Pharm 2023; 20:383-394. [PMID: 36437712 DOI: 10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.2c00680] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
In pharmaceutical research, compounds are optimized for metabolic stability to avoid a too fast elimination of the drug. Intrinsic clearance (CLint) measured in liver microsomes or hepatocytes is an important parameter during lead optimization. In this work, machine learning models were developed to relate the compound structure to microsomal metabolic stability and predict CLint for new compounds. A multitask (MT) learning architecture was introduced to model the CLint of six species simultaneously, giving as a result a multispecies machine learning model. MT graph neural network (MT-GNN) regression was identified as the top-performing method, and an ensemble of 10 MT-GNN models was evaluated prospectively. Geometric mean fold errors were consistently smaller than 2-fold. Moreover, high precision values were obtained in the prediction of "high" (>300 μL/min/mg) and "low" (<100 μL/min/mg) CLint compounds. Precision values ranged from 80 to 94% for low CLint predictions and from 75 to 97% for high CLint predictions, depending on the species. Uncertainty on experimental values and model predictions was systematically quantified. Experimental variability (aleatoric uncertainty) of all historical Novartis in vitro clearance experiments was analyzed. Interestingly, MT-GNN models' performance approached assays' experimental variability. Moreover, uncertainty estimation in predictions (epistemic uncertainty) enabled identifying predictions associated with lower and higher error. Taken together, our manuscript combines a multispecies deep learning model and large-scale uncertainty analyses to improve CLint predictions and facilitate early informed decisions for compound prioritization.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Markus Trunzer
- Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Novartis Campus, BaselCH-4002, Switzerland
| | - Nadine Schneider
- Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Novartis Campus, BaselCH-4002, Switzerland
| | - Bernard Faller
- Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Novartis Campus, BaselCH-4002, Switzerland
| | - Grégori Gerebtzoff
- Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Novartis Campus, BaselCH-4002, Switzerland
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6
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Korolev V, Nevolin I, Protsenko P. A universal similarity based approach for predictive uncertainty quantification in materials science. Sci Rep 2022; 12:14931. [PMID: 36056050 PMCID: PMC9440040 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-19205-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2022] [Accepted: 08/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Immense effort has been exerted in the materials informatics community towards enhancing the accuracy of machine learning (ML) models; however, the uncertainty quantification (UQ) of state-of-the-art algorithms also demands further development. Most prominent UQ methods are model-specific or are related to the ensembles of models; therefore, there is a need to develop a universal technique that can be readily applied to a single model from a diverse set of ML algorithms. In this study, we suggest a new UQ measure known as the Δ-metric to address this issue. The presented quantitative criterion was inspired by the k-nearest neighbor approach adopted for applicability domain estimation in chemoinformatics. It surpasses several UQ methods in accurately ranking the predictive errors and could be considered a low-cost option for a more advanced deep ensemble strategy. We also evaluated the performance of the presented UQ measure on various classes of materials, ML algorithms, and types of input features, thus demonstrating its universality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vadim Korolev
- Department of Chemistry, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, 119991, Russia.
| | - Iurii Nevolin
- Frumkin Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 119071, Russia
| | - Pavel Protsenko
- Department of Chemistry, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, 119991, Russia
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7
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Yu J, Wang D, Zheng M. Uncertainty quantification: Can we trust artificial intelligence in drug discovery? iScience 2022; 25:104814. [PMID: 35996575 PMCID: PMC9391523 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104814] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
The problem of human trust is one of the most fundamental problems in applied artificial intelligence in drug discovery. In silico models have been widely used to accelerate the process of drug discovery in recent years. However, most of these models can only give reliable predictions within a limited chemical space that the training set covers (applicability domain). Predictions of samples falling outside the applicability domain are unreliable and sometimes dangerous for the drug-design decision-making process. Uncertainty quantification accordingly has drawn great attention to enable autonomous drug designing. By quantifying the confidence level of model predictions, the reliability of the predictions can be quantitatively represented to assist researchers in their molecular reasoning and experimental design. Here we summarize the state-of-the-art approaches to uncertainty quantification and underline how they can be used for drug design and discovery projects. Furthermore, we also outline four representative application scenarios of uncertainty quantification in drug discovery.
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8
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Trapotsi MA, Hosseini-Gerami L, Bender A. Computational analyses of mechanism of action (MoA): data, methods and integration. RSC Chem Biol 2022; 3:170-200. [PMID: 35360890 PMCID: PMC8827085 DOI: 10.1039/d1cb00069a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2021] [Accepted: 12/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The elucidation of a compound's Mechanism of Action (MoA) is a challenging task in the drug discovery process, but it is important in order to rationalise phenotypic findings and to anticipate potential side-effects. Bioinformatic approaches, advances in machine learning techniques and the increasing deposition of high-throughput data in public databases have significantly contributed to recent advances in the field, but it is not straightforward to decide which data and methods are most suitable to use in a given case. In this review, we focus on these methods and data and their applications in generating MoA hypotheses for subsequent experimental validation. We discuss compound-specific data such as -omics, cell morphology and bioactivity data, as well as commonly used supplementary prior knowledge such as network and pathway data, and provide information on databases where this data can be accessed. In terms of methodologies, we discuss both well-established methods (connectivity mapping, pathway enrichment) as well as more developing methods (neural networks and multi-omics integration). Finally, we review case studies where the MoA of a compound was successfully suggested from computational analysis by incorporating multiple data modalities and/or methodologies. Our aim for this review is to provide researchers with insights into the benefits and drawbacks of both the data and methods in terms of level of understanding, biases and interpretation - and to highlight future avenues of investigation which we foresee will improve the field of MoA elucidation, including greater public access to -omics data and methodologies which are capable of data integration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria-Anna Trapotsi
- Centre for Molecular Informatics, Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge UK
| | - Layla Hosseini-Gerami
- Centre for Molecular Informatics, Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge UK
| | - Andreas Bender
- Centre for Molecular Informatics, Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge UK
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9
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Thomas M, Boardman A, Garcia-Ortegon M, Yang H, de Graaf C, Bender A. Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Drug Design: Opportunities and Challenges. METHODS IN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY (CLIFTON, N.J.) 2021; 2390:1-59. [PMID: 34731463 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1787-8_1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Artificial intelligence (AI) has undergone rapid development in recent years and has been successfully applied to real-world problems such as drug design. In this chapter, we review recent applications of AI to problems in drug design including virtual screening, computer-aided synthesis planning, and de novo molecule generation, with a focus on the limitations of the application of AI therein and opportunities for improvement. Furthermore, we discuss the broader challenges imposed by AI in translating theoretical practice to real-world drug design; including quantifying prediction uncertainty and explaining model behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Morgan Thomas
- Centre for Molecular Informatics, Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Andrew Boardman
- Centre for Molecular Informatics, Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Miguel Garcia-Ortegon
- Centre for Molecular Informatics, Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.,Department of Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Hongbin Yang
- Centre for Molecular Informatics, Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | | | - Andreas Bender
- Centre for Molecular Informatics, Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
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10
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Mervin LH, Trapotsi MA, Afzal AM, Barrett IP, Bender A, Engkvist O. Probabilistic Random Forest improves bioactivity predictions close to the classification threshold by taking into account experimental uncertainty. J Cheminform 2021; 13:62. [PMID: 34412708 PMCID: PMC8375213 DOI: 10.1186/s13321-021-00539-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2021] [Accepted: 07/30/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Measurements of protein–ligand interactions have reproducibility limits due to experimental errors. Any model based on such assays will consequentially have such unavoidable errors influencing their performance which should ideally be factored into modelling and output predictions, such as the actual standard deviation of experimental measurements (σ) or the associated comparability of activity values between the aggregated heterogenous activity units (i.e., Ki versus IC50 values) during dataset assimilation. However, experimental errors are usually a neglected aspect of model generation. In order to improve upon the current state-of-the-art, we herein present a novel approach toward predicting protein–ligand interactions using a Probabilistic Random Forest (PRF) classifier. The PRF algorithm was applied toward in silico protein target prediction across ~ 550 tasks from ChEMBL and PubChem. Predictions were evaluated by taking into account various scenarios of experimental standard deviations in both training and test sets and performance was assessed using fivefold stratified shuffled splits for validation. The largest benefit in incorporating the experimental deviation in PRF was observed for data points close to the binary threshold boundary, when such information was not considered in any way in the original RF algorithm. For example, in cases when σ ranged between 0.4–0.6 log units and when ideal probability estimates between 0.4–0.6, the PRF outperformed RF with a median absolute error margin of ~ 17%. In comparison, the baseline RF outperformed PRF for cases with high confidence to belong to the active class (far from the binary decision threshold), although the RF models gave errors smaller than the experimental uncertainty, which could indicate that they were overtrained and/or over-confident. Finally, the PRF models trained with putative inactives decreased the performance compared to PRF models without putative inactives and this could be because putative inactives were not assigned an experimental pXC50 value, and therefore they were considered inactives with a low uncertainty (which in practice might not be true). In conclusion, PRF can be useful for target prediction models in particular for data where class boundaries overlap with the measurement uncertainty, and where a substantial part of the training data is located close to the classification threshold.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lewis H Mervin
- Molecular AI, Discovery Sciences, R&D, AstraZeneca, Cambridge, UK.
| | - Maria-Anna Trapotsi
- Department of Chemistry, Centre for Molecular Informatics, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge, CB2 1EW, UK
| | - Avid M Afzal
- Data Sciences & Quantitative Biology, Discovery Sciences, R&D, AstraZeneca, Cambridge, UK
| | - Ian P Barrett
- Data Sciences & Quantitative Biology, Discovery Sciences, R&D, AstraZeneca, Cambridge, UK
| | - Andreas Bender
- Department of Chemistry, Centre for Molecular Informatics, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge, CB2 1EW, UK
| | - Ola Engkvist
- Molecular AI, Discovery Sciences, R&D, AstraZeneca, Gothenburg, Sweden.,Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden
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11
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Mervin LH, Johansson S, Semenova E, Giblin KA, Engkvist O. Uncertainty quantification in drug design. Drug Discov Today 2020; 26:474-489. [PMID: 33253918 DOI: 10.1016/j.drudis.2020.11.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2020] [Revised: 07/13/2020] [Accepted: 11/23/2020] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Machine learning and artificial intelligence are increasingly being applied to the drug-design process as a result of the development of novel algorithms, growing access, the falling cost of computation and the development of novel technologies for generating chemically and biologically relevant data. There has been recent progress in fields such as molecular de novo generation, synthetic route prediction and, to some extent, property predictions. Despite this, most research in these fields has focused on improving the accuracy of the technologies, rather than on quantifying the uncertainty in the predictions. Uncertainty quantification will become a key component in autonomous decision making and will be crucial for integrating machine learning and chemistry automation to create an autonomous design-make-test-analyse cycle. This review covers the empirical, frequentist and Bayesian approaches to uncertainty quantification, and outlines how they can be used for drug design. We also outline the impact of uncertainty quantification on decision making.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lewis H Mervin
- Molecular AI, Discovery Sciences, R&D, AstraZeneca, Cambridge, UK.
| | - Simon Johansson
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden; Molecular AI, Discovery Sciences, R&D, AstraZeneca, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Elizaveta Semenova
- Data Sciences and Quantitative Biology, Discovery Sciences, R&D, AstraZeneca, Cambridge, UK
| | - Kathryn A Giblin
- Medicinal Chemistry, Research and Early Development, Oncology R&D, AstraZeneca, Cambridge, UK
| | - Ola Engkvist
- Molecular AI, Discovery Sciences, R&D, AstraZeneca, Gothenburg, Sweden
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