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Alzamami A, Radwan EM, Abo-Elabass E, Behery ME, Alshwyeh HA, Al-Olayan E, Altamimi AS, Attallah NGM, Altwaijry N, Jaremko M, Saied EM. Novel 8-Methoxycoumarin-3-Carboxamides with potent anticancer activity against liver cancer via targeting caspase-3/7 and β-tubulin polymerization. BMC Chem 2023; 17:174. [PMID: 38041156 PMCID: PMC10693084 DOI: 10.1186/s13065-023-01063-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2023] [Accepted: 10/23/2023] [Indexed: 12/03/2023] Open
Abstract
In the present study, we explored the potential of coumarin-based compounds, known for their potent anticancer properties, by designing and synthesizing a novel category of 8-methoxycoumarin-3-carboxamides. Our aim was to investigate their antiproliferative activity against liver cancer cells. Toward this, we developed a versatile synthetic approach to produce a series of 8-methoxycoumarin-3-carboxamide analogues with meticulous structural features. Assessment of their antiproliferative activity demonstrated their significant inhibitory effects on the growth of HepG2 cells, a widely studied liver cancer cell line. Among screened compounds, compound 5 exhibited the most potent antiproliferative activity among the screened compounds (IC50 = 0.9 µM), outperforming the anticancer drug staurosporine (IC50 = 8.4 µM), while showing minimal impact on normal cells. The flow cytometric analysis revealed that compound 5 induces cell cycle arrest during the G1/S phase and triggers apoptosis in HepG2 cells by increasing the percentage of cells arrested in the G2/M and pre-G1 phases. Annexin V-FITC/PI screening further supported the induction of apoptosis without significant necrosis. Further, compound 5 exhibited the ability to activate caspase3/7 protein and substantially inhibited β-tubulin polymerization activity in HepG2 cells. Finally, molecular modelling analysis further affirmed the high binding affinity of compound 5 toward the active cavity of β-tubulin protein, suggesting its mechanistic involvement. Collectively, our findings highlight the therapeutic potential of the presented class of coumarin analogues, especially compound 5, as promising candidates for the development of effective anti-hepatocellular carcinoma agents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ahmad Alzamami
- Clinical Laboratory Science Department, College of Applied Medical Science, Shaqra University, AlQuwayiyah 11961, Sahqra, Saudi Arabia
| | - Eman M Radwan
- Chemistry Department (The Division of Organic Chemistry), Faculty of Science, Port-Said University, Port-Said, Egypt
| | - Eman Abo-Elabass
- Chemistry Department (The Division of Biochemistry), Faculty of Science, Port-Said University, Port-Said, Egypt
| | - Mohammed El Behery
- Chemistry Department (The Division of Biochemistry), Faculty of Science, Port-Said University, Port-Said, Egypt
| | - Hussah Abdullah Alshwyeh
- Department of Biology, College of Science, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, 31441, Dammam, Saudi Arabia
- Basic & Applied Scientific Research Centre, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, P.O. Box 1982, 31441, Dammam, Saudi Arabia
| | - Ebtesam Al-Olayan
- Department of Zoology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Abdulmalik S Altamimi
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, PO Box 173, 11942, Alkharj, Saudi Arabia
| | | | - Najla Altwaijry
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, 11671, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Mariusz Jaremko
- Division of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Smart-Health Initiative and Red Sea Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 4700, 23955-6900, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia.
| | - Essa M Saied
- Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, 41522, Egypt.
- Institute for Chemistry, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Brook-Taylor-Str. 2, 12489, Berlin, Germany.
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2
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Rai M, Singh AV, Paudel N, Kanase A, Falletta E, Kerkar P, Heyda J, Barghash RF, Pratap Singh S, Soos M. Herbal concoction Unveiled: A computational analysis of phytochemicals' pharmacokinetic and toxicological profiles using novel approach methodologies (NAMs). Curr Res Toxicol 2023; 5:100118. [PMID: 37609475 PMCID: PMC10440360 DOI: 10.1016/j.crtox.2023.100118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2023] [Revised: 08/08/2023] [Accepted: 08/09/2023] [Indexed: 08/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Herbal medications have an extensive history of use in treating various diseases, attributed to their perceived efficacy and safety. Traditional medicine practitioners and contemporary healthcare providers have shown particular interest in herbal syrups, especially for respiratory illnesses associated with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. However, the current understanding of the pharmacokinetic and toxicological properties of phytochemicals in these herbal mixtures is limited. This study presents a comprehensive computational analysis utilizing novel approach methodologies (NAMs) to investigate the pharmacokinetic and toxicological profiles of phytochemicals in herbal syrup, leveraging in-silico techniques and prediction tools such as PubChem, SwissADME, and Molsoft's database. Although molecular dynamics, docking, and broader system-wide analyses were not considered, future studies hold potential for further investigation in these areas. By combining drug-likeness with molecular simulation, researchers identify diverse phytochemicals suitable for complex medication development examining their pharmacokinetic-toxicological profiles in phytopharmaceutical syrup. The study focuses on herbal solutions for respiratory infections, with the goal of adding to the pool of all-natural treatments for such ailments. This research has the potential to revolutionize environmental and alternative medicine by leveraging in-silico models and innovative analytical techniques to identify novel phytochemicals with enhanced therapeutic benefits and explore network-based and systems biology approaches for a deeper understanding of their interactions with biological systems. Overall, our study offers valuable insights into the computational analysis of the pharmacokinetic and toxicological profiles of herbal concoction. This paves the way for advancements in environmental and alternative medicine. However, we acknowledge the need for future studies to address the aforementioned topics that were not adequately covered in this research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mansi Rai
- Department of Microbiology, Central University of Rajasthan NH-8, Bandar Sindri, Dist-Ajmer-305817, Rajasthan, India
| | - Ajay Vikram Singh
- Department of Chemical and Product Safety, German Federal Institute of Risk Assessment (BfR), Maxdohrnstrasse 8-10, 10589 Berlin, Germany
| | - Namuna Paudel
- Department of Chemistry, Amrit Campus, Institute of Science and Technology, Tribhuvan University, Lainchaur, Kathmandu 44600, Nepal
| | - Anurag Kanase
- Opentrons Labworks Inc., Brooklyn, NY 11201, the United States of America
| | - Ermelinda Falletta
- Department of Chemistry, University of Milan, Via Golgi 19, 20133 Milan, Italy
| | - Pranali Kerkar
- Rutgers School of Public Health, 683 Hoes Lane West Piscataway, NJ 08854, the United States of America
| | - Jan Heyda
- Department of Physical Chemistry, University of Chemistry and Technology Prague, Technicka 5, Prague 6 Dejvice, 166 28, Czech Republic
| | - Reham F. Barghash
- Institute of Chemical Industries Researches, National Research Centre, Dokki, Cairo 12622, Egypt
| | | | - Miroslav Soos
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Chemistry and Technology Prague, Technicka 3, Prague 6 Dejvice, 166 28, Czech Republic
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3
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Wang L, Shi SH, Li H, Zeng XX, Liu SY, Liu ZQ, Deng YF, Lu AP, Hou TJ, Cao DS. Reducing false positive rate of docking-based virtual screening by active learning. Brief Bioinform 2023; 24:6987822. [PMID: 36642412 DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbac626] [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: 10/25/2022] [Revised: 12/10/2022] [Accepted: 12/20/2022] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Machine learning-based scoring functions (MLSFs) have become a very favorable alternative to classical scoring functions because of their potential superior screening performance. However, the information of negative data used to construct MLSFs was rarely reported in the literature, and meanwhile the putative inactive molecules recorded in existing databases usually have obvious bias from active molecules. Here we proposed an easy-to-use method named AMLSF that combines active learning using negative molecular selection strategies with MLSF, which can iteratively improve the quality of inactive sets and thus reduce the false positive rate of virtual screening. We chose energy auxiliary terms learning as the MLSF and validated our method on eight targets in the diverse subset of DUD-E. For each target, we screened the IterBioScreen database by AMLSF and compared the screening results with those of the four control models. The results illustrate that the number of active molecules in the top 1000 molecules identified by AMLSF was significantly higher than those identified by the control models. In addition, the free energy calculation results for the top 10 molecules screened out by the AMLSF, null model and control models based on DUD-E also proved that more active molecules can be identified, and the false positive rate can be reduced by AMLSF.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lei Wang
- Xiangya School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Central South University, Changsha 410013, Hunan, China
| | - Shao-Hua Shi
- Institute for Advancing Translational Medicine in Bone and Joint Diseases, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Hui Li
- Xiangya School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Central South University, Changsha 410013, Hunan, China
| | - Xiang-Xiang Zeng
- Department of Computer Science, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, Hunan, China
| | - Su-You Liu
- Xiangya School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Central South University, Changsha 410013, Hunan, China
| | - Zhao-Qian Liu
- Xiangya School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Central South University, Changsha 410013, Hunan, China
| | - Ya-Feng Deng
- CarbonSilicon AI Technology Co., Ltd, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310018, China
| | - Ai-Ping Lu
- Institute for Advancing Translational Medicine in Bone and Joint Diseases, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Ting-Jun Hou
- Hangzhou Institute of Innovative Medicine, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, Zhejiang, China
| | - Dong-Sheng Cao
- Xiangya School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Central South University, Changsha 410013, Hunan, China.,Institute for Advancing Translational Medicine in Bone and Joint Diseases, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong SAR, China
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4
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Zhang H, Liu C, Zhu D, Zhang Q, Li J. Medicinal Chemistry Strategies for the Development of Inhibitors Disrupting β-Catenin's Interactions with Its Nuclear Partners. J Med Chem 2023; 66:1-31. [PMID: 36583662 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.2c01016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Dysregulation of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway is strongly associated with various aspects of cancer, including tumor initiation, proliferation, and metastasis as well as antitumor immunity, and presents a promising opportunity for cancer therapy. Wnt/β-catenin signaling activation increases nuclear dephosphorylated β-catenin levels, resulting in β-catenin binding to TCF and additional cotranscription factors, such as BCL9, CBP, and p300. Therefore, directly disrupting β-catenin's interactions with these nuclear partners holds promise for the effective and selective suppression of the aberrant activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling. Herein, we summarize recent advances in biochemical techniques and medicinal chemistry strategies used to identify potent peptide-based and small-molecule inhibitors that directly disrupt β-catenin's interactions with its nuclear binding partners. We discuss the challenges involved in developing drug-like inhibitors that target the interactions of β-catenin and its nuclear binding partner into therapeutic agents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hao Zhang
- School of Pharmacy, Fudan University, Shanghai 201203, China.,Novel Technology Center of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Shanghai Institute of Pharmaceutical Industry Co., Ltd., China State Institute of Pharmaceutical Industry, Shanghai 201203, China
| | - Chenglong Liu
- School of Pharmacy, Fudan University, Shanghai 201203, China
| | - Di Zhu
- School of Pharmacy, Fudan University, Shanghai 201203, China.,Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Science, Fudan University, Shanghai 201100, China
| | - Qingwei Zhang
- Novel Technology Center of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Shanghai Institute of Pharmaceutical Industry Co., Ltd., China State Institute of Pharmaceutical Industry, Shanghai 201203, China
| | - Jianqi Li
- Novel Technology Center of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Shanghai Institute of Pharmaceutical Industry Co., Ltd., China State Institute of Pharmaceutical Industry, Shanghai 201203, China
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5
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Sharma M, Sharma N, Muddassir M, Rahman QI, Dwivedi UN, Akhtar S. Structure-based pharmacophore modeling, virtual screening and simulation studies for the identification of potent anticancerous phytochemical lead targeting cyclin-dependent kinase 2. J Biomol Struct Dyn 2022; 40:9815-9832. [PMID: 34151738 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2021.1936178] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Cyclin-dependent kinases are of critical importance in directing various cell cycle phases making them as potential tumor targets. Cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) in particular plays a significant part during cell cycle events and its imbalance roots out tumorogenic environment. Herein, we built a structure-based pharmacophore model complementing the ATP pocket site of CDK2 with four pharmacophoric features, using a series of structures obtained from cluster analysis during MD simulation assessment. This was followed by its validation and further database screening against Taiwan indigenous plants database (5284 compounds). The screened compounds were subjected toward Lipinski's rule (RO5) and ADMET filter followed by docking analysis and simulation study. In filtering hits (10 compounds) via molecular docking against CDK2, Schinilenol with -8.1 kcal/mol fetched out as a best lead phytoinhibitor in the presence of standard drug (Dinaciclib). Additionally, pharmacophore mapping analysis also indicated relative fit values of dinaciclib and schinilenol as 2.37 and 2.31, respectively. Optimization, flexibility prediction and the stability of CDK2 in complex with the ligands were also ascertained by means of molecular dynamics for 50 ns, which further proposed schinilenol having better binding stability than dinaciclib with RMSD values ranging from 0.31 to 0.34 nm. Reactivity site, biological activity detection and cardiotoxicity assessment also proposed schinilenol as a better phytolead inhibitor than the existing dinaciclib. Abbreviations: CDK2: Cyclin dependent kinase2; ATP: Adenosine triphosphate; MD: Molecular dynamics, RO5: Rule of five; ADMET: Absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion; RMSD: Root mean square deviation; DS: Discovery Studio; SOM: Site of metabolism; RBPM: receptor based pharmacophore model; TIP: Schinilenol; hERG: human Ether-à-go-go - Related GeneCommunicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mala Sharma
- Department of Biosciences, Integral University, Lucknow, India
| | - Neha Sharma
- Department of Bioengineering, Integral University, Lucknow, India
| | - Mohd Muddassir
- Department of Chemistry, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | | | - U N Dwivedi
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Lucknow, Lucknow, India
| | - Salman Akhtar
- Department of Bioengineering, Integral University, Lucknow, India.,Novel Global Community Educational Foundation, Hebersham, Australia
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Wang Z, Cherukupalli S, Xie M, Wang W, Jiang X, Jia R, Pannecouque C, De Clercq E, Kang D, Zhan P, Liu X. Contemporary Medicinal Chemistry Strategies for the Discovery and Development of Novel HIV-1 Non-nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors. J Med Chem 2022; 65:3729-3757. [PMID: 35175760 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.1c01758] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Currently, HIV-1 non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) are a major component of the highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) regimen. However, the occurrence of drug-resistant strains and adverse reactions after long-term usage have inevitably compromised the clinical application of NNRTIs. Therefore, the development of novel inhibitors with distinct anti-resistance profiles and better pharmacological properties is still an enormous challenge. Herein, we summarize state-of-the-art medicinal chemistry strategies for the discovery of potent NNRTIs, such as structure-based design strategies, contemporary computer-aided drug design, covalent-binding strategies, and the application of multi-target-directed ligands. The strategies described here will facilitate the identification of promising HIV-1 NNRTIs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhao Wang
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology (Ministry of Education), School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, 44 West Culture Road, 250012 Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China
| | - Srinivasulu Cherukupalli
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology (Ministry of Education), School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, 44 West Culture Road, 250012 Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China
| | - Minghui Xie
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology (Ministry of Education), School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, 44 West Culture Road, 250012 Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China
| | - Wenbo Wang
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology (Ministry of Education), School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, 44 West Culture Road, 250012 Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China
| | - Xiangyi Jiang
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology (Ministry of Education), School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, 44 West Culture Road, 250012 Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China
| | - Ruifang Jia
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology (Ministry of Education), School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, 44 West Culture Road, 250012 Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China
| | - Christophe Pannecouque
- Rega Institute for Medical Research, Laboratory of Virology and Chemotherapy, K.U. Leuven, Herestraat 49 Postbus 1043 (09.A097), B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Erik De Clercq
- Rega Institute for Medical Research, Laboratory of Virology and Chemotherapy, K.U. Leuven, Herestraat 49 Postbus 1043 (09.A097), B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Dongwei Kang
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology (Ministry of Education), School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, 44 West Culture Road, 250012 Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China.,China-Belgium Collaborative Research Center for Innovative Antiviral Drugs of Shandong Province, 44 West Culture Road, 250012 Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China
| | - Peng Zhan
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology (Ministry of Education), School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, 44 West Culture Road, 250012 Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China.,China-Belgium Collaborative Research Center for Innovative Antiviral Drugs of Shandong Province, 44 West Culture Road, 250012 Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China
| | - Xinyong Liu
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology (Ministry of Education), School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, 44 West Culture Road, 250012 Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China.,China-Belgium Collaborative Research Center for Innovative Antiviral Drugs of Shandong Province, 44 West Culture Road, 250012 Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China
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7
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Yang ZY, Fu L, Lu AP, Liu S, Hou TJ, Cao DS. Semi-automated workflow for molecular pair analysis and QSAR-assisted transformation space expansion. J Cheminform 2021; 13:86. [PMID: 34774096 PMCID: PMC8590336 DOI: 10.1186/s13321-021-00564-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2021] [Accepted: 10/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
In the process of drug discovery, the optimization of lead compounds has always been a challenge faced by pharmaceutical chemists. Matched molecular pair analysis (MMPA), a promising tool to efficiently extract and summarize the relationship between structural transformation and property change, is suitable for local structural optimization tasks. Especially, the integration of MMPA with QSAR modeling can further strengthen the utility of MMPA in molecular optimization navigation. In this study, a new semi-automated procedure based on KNIME was developed to support MMPA on both large- and small-scale datasets, including molecular preparation, QSAR model construction, applicability domain evaluation, and MMP calculation and application. Two examples covering regression and classification tasks were provided to gain a better understanding of the importance of MMPA, which has also shown the reliability and utility of this MMPA-by-QSAR pipeline. ![]()
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Affiliation(s)
- Zi-Yi Yang
- Xiangya School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, 410013, Hunan, People's Republic of China.,Hunan Key Laboratory of Diagnostic and Therapeutic Drug Research for Chronic Diseases, Changsha, 410013, Hunan, China
| | - Li Fu
- Xiangya School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, 410013, Hunan, People's Republic of China.,Hunan Key Laboratory of Diagnostic and Therapeutic Drug Research for Chronic Diseases, Changsha, 410013, Hunan, China
| | - Ai-Ping Lu
- Institute for Advancing Translational Medicine in Bone & Joint Diseases, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, 999077, SAR, People's Republic of China
| | - Shao Liu
- Department of Pharmacy, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, Hunan, People's Republic of China
| | - Ting-Jun Hou
- Hangzhou Institute of Innovative Medicine, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China.
| | - Dong-Sheng Cao
- Xiangya School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, 410013, Hunan, People's Republic of China. .,Hunan Key Laboratory of Diagnostic and Therapeutic Drug Research for Chronic Diseases, Changsha, 410013, Hunan, China. .,Institute for Advancing Translational Medicine in Bone & Joint Diseases, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, 999077, SAR, People's Republic of China.
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8
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MCDB: A comprehensive curated mitotic catastrophe database for retrieval, protein sequence alignment, and target prediction. Acta Pharm Sin B 2021; 11:3092-3104. [PMID: 34729303 PMCID: PMC8546929 DOI: 10.1016/j.apsb.2021.05.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2021] [Revised: 03/12/2021] [Accepted: 05/06/2021] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Mitotic catastrophe (MC) is a form of programmed cell death induced by mitotic process disorders, which is very important in tumor prevention, development, and drug resistance. Because rapidly increased data for MC is vigorously promoting the tumor-related biomedical and clinical study, it is urgent for us to develop a professional and comprehensive database to curate MC-related data. Mitotic Catastrophe Database (MCDB) consists of 1214 genes/proteins and 5014 compounds collected and organized from more than 8000 research articles. Also, MCDB defines the confidence level, classification criteria, and uniform naming rules for MC-related data, which greatly improves data reliability and retrieval convenience. Moreover, MCDB develops protein sequence alignment and target prediction functions. The former can be used to predict new potential MC-related genes and proteins, and the latter can facilitate the identification of potential target proteins of unknown MC-related compounds. In short, MCDB is such a proprietary, standard, and comprehensive database for MC-relate data that will facilitate the exploration of MC from chemists to biologists in the fields of medicinal chemistry, molecular biology, bioinformatics, oncology and so on. The MCDB is distributed on http://www.combio-lezhang.online/MCDB/index_html/.
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Key Words
- Data mining
- Database
- GO, Gene Ontology
- IUPAC, International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry
- InChI Key, International Chemical Identifier hash
- InChI, International Chemical Identifier
- MC, Mitotic Catastrophe
- MCDB, Mitotic Catastrophe Database
- Mitotic catastrophe
- PDB, Protein Data Bank
- PMID, PubMed identifier
- Protein sequence analysis
- PubChem, Public Chemistry
- PubMed, Public Medicine
- SMILES, Simplified Molecular Input Line Entry Specification
- Target prediction
- UniProt, Universal Protein Resource
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Lloyd MD, Yevglevskis M, Nathubhai A, James TD, Threadgill MD, Woodman TJ. Racemases and epimerases operating through a 1,1-proton transfer mechanism: reactivity, mechanism and inhibition. Chem Soc Rev 2021; 50:5952-5984. [PMID: 34027955 PMCID: PMC8142540 DOI: 10.1039/d0cs00540a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Racemases and epimerases catalyse changes in the stereochemical configurations of chiral centres and are of interest as model enzymes and as biotechnological tools. They also occupy pivotal positions within metabolic pathways and, hence, many of them are important drug targets. This review summarises the catalytic mechanisms of PLP-dependent, enolase family and cofactor-independent racemases and epimerases operating by a deprotonation/reprotonation (1,1-proton transfer) mechanism and methods for measuring their catalytic activity. Strategies for inhibiting these enzymes are reviewed, as are specific examples of inhibitors. Rational design of inhibitors based on substrates has been extensively explored but there is considerable scope for development of transition-state mimics and covalent inhibitors and for the identification of inhibitors by high-throughput, fragment and virtual screening approaches. The increasing availability of enzyme structures obtained using X-ray crystallography will facilitate development of inhibitors by rational design and fragment screening, whilst protein models will facilitate development of transition-state mimics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew D Lloyd
- Drug & Target Discovery, Department of Pharmacy & Pharmacology, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7AY, UK.
| | - Maksims Yevglevskis
- Drug & Target Discovery, Department of Pharmacy & Pharmacology, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7AY, UK. and CatSci Ltd., CBTC2, Capital Business Park, Wentloog, Cardiff CF3 2PX, UK
| | - Amit Nathubhai
- Drug & Target Discovery, Department of Pharmacy & Pharmacology, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7AY, UK. and University of Sunderland, School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sciences Complex, Sunderland SR1 3SD, UK
| | - Tony D James
- Department of Chemistry, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7AY, UK and School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang 453007, People's Republic of China
| | - Michael D Threadgill
- Drug & Target Discovery, Department of Pharmacy & Pharmacology, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7AY, UK. and Institute of Biological, Environmental & Rural Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth SY23 3BY, UK
| | - Timothy J Woodman
- Drug & Target Discovery, Department of Pharmacy & Pharmacology, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7AY, UK.
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10
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PharmSD: A novel AI-based computational platform for solid dispersion formulation design. Int J Pharm 2021; 604:120705. [PMID: 33991595 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2021.120705] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2021] [Revised: 05/03/2021] [Accepted: 05/10/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Solid dispersion is an effective way to improve the dissolution and oral bioavailability of water-insoluble drugs. To obtain an effective solid dispersion formulation, researchers need to evaluate a series of important properties of the designed formulation, including in vitro dissolution and physical stability of solid dispersion. It is usually time-consuming and labor-intensive to explore these properties by traditional experimental methods. However, the development of machine learning technology provides a powerful way to solve such problems. By using advanced machine learning algorithms, we established a series of robust models and finally formed a systematic strategy to assist the formulation design. Based on these works, we developed a new formulation prediction platform of solid dispersion: PharmSD. This platform provides efficient functionalities for the prediction of physical stability, dissolution type and dissolution rate of solid dispersion independently. Then, a virtual screening pipeline can be produced by considering those prediction results as a whole, which enables users to filter different kinds of drug-polymer combinations in various experimental situations and figure out which combination could form the best formulation. Moreover, it also provides two tools that enable researchers to evaluate the application domain of models and calculate the similarity of dissolution curves. PharmSD is expected to be the first freely available web-based platform that is fully designed for the formulation design of solid dispersion driven by machine learning. We hope this platform could provide a powerful solution to assist the formulation design in the related research area. It is available at: http://pharmsd.computpharm.org.
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Singh N, Villoutreix BO. Resources and computational strategies to advance small molecule SARS-CoV-2 discovery: Lessons from the pandemic and preparing for future health crises. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2021; 19:2537-2548. [PMID: 33936562 PMCID: PMC8074526 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2021.04.059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2021] [Revised: 04/22/2021] [Accepted: 04/24/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
There is an urgent need to identify new therapies that prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection and improve the outcome of COVID-19 patients. This pandemic has thus spurred intensive research in most scientific areas and in a short period of time, several vaccines have been developed. But, while the race to find vaccines for COVID-19 has dominated the headlines, other types of therapeutic agents are being developed. In this mini-review, we report several databases and online tools that could assist the discovery of anti-SARS-CoV-2 small chemical compounds and peptides. We then give examples of studies that combined in silico and in vitro screening, either for drug repositioning purposes or to search for novel bioactive compounds. Finally, we question the overall lack of discussion and plan observed in academic research in many countries during this crisis and suggest that there is room for improvement.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natesh Singh
- Université de Paris, Inserm UMR 1141 NeuroDiderot, Robert-Debré Hospital, 75019 Paris, France
| | - Bruno O. Villoutreix
- Université de Paris, Inserm UMR 1141 NeuroDiderot, Robert-Debré Hospital, 75019 Paris, France
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Yang ZY, Yang ZJ, Zhao Y, Yin MZ, Lu AP, Chen X, Liu S, Hou TJ, Cao DS. PySmash: Python package and individual executable program for representative substructure generation and application. Brief Bioinform 2021; 22:6168498. [PMID: 33709154 DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbab017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2020] [Revised: 01/06/2021] [Accepted: 01/12/2021] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Substructure screening is widely applied to evaluate the molecular potency and ADMET properties of compounds in drug discovery pipelines, and it can also be used to interpret QSAR models for the design of new compounds with desirable physicochemical and biological properties. With the continuous accumulation of more experimental data, data-driven computational systems which can derive representative substructures from large chemical libraries attract more attention. Therefore, the development of an integrated and convenient tool to generate and implement representative substructures is urgently needed. RESULTS In this study, PySmash, a user-friendly and powerful tool to generate different types of representative substructures, was developed. The current version of PySmash provides both a Python package and an individual executable program, which achieves ease of operation and pipeline integration. Three types of substructure generation algorithms, including circular, path-based and functional group-based algorithms, are provided. Users can conveniently customize their own requirements for substructure size, accuracy and coverage, statistical significance and parallel computation during execution. Besides, PySmash provides the function for external data screening. CONCLUSION PySmash, a user-friendly and integrated tool for the automatic generation and implementation of representative substructures, is presented. Three screening examples, including toxicophore derivation, privileged motif detection and the integration of substructures with machine learning (ML) models, are provided to illustrate the utility of PySmash in safety profile evaluation, therapeutic activity exploration and molecular optimization, respectively. Its executable program and Python package are available at https://github.com/kotori-y/pySmash.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zi-Yi Yang
- Department of Pharmacy, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University and the Xiangya School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Central South University, Sichuan, China
| | - Zhi-Jiang Yang
- Xiangya School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Central South University, Hunan, China
| | - Yue Zhao
- Xiangya School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Central South University (Changsha), Sichuan, China
| | - Ming-Zhu Yin
- Department of Dermatology, Hunan Engineering Research Center of Skin Health and Disease, Hunan Key Laboratory of Skin Cancer and Psoriasis, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Hunan
| | - Ai-Ping Lu
- Institute for Advancing Translational Medicine in Bone and Joint Diseases, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong
| | - Xiang Chen
- Department of Dermatology, Hunan Engineering Research Center of Skin Health and Disease, Hunan Key Laboratory of Skin Cancer and Psoriasis, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Hunan
| | - Shao Liu
- Department of Pharmacy, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Hunan
| | - Ting-Jun Hou
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, China
| | - Dong-Sheng Cao
- Xiangya School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Central South University, China
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Veale CGL. Into the Fray! A Beginner's Guide to Medicinal Chemistry. ChemMedChem 2021; 16:1199-1225. [PMID: 33591595 DOI: 10.1002/cmdc.202000929] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Modern medicinal chemistry is a complex, multidimensional discipline that operates at the interface of the chemical and biological sciences. The medicinal chemistry contribution to drug discovery is typically described in the context of the well-recited linear progression of the drug discovery pipeline. However, compound optimization is idiosyncratic to each project, and clear definitions of hit and lead molecules and the subsequent progress along the pipeline becomes easily blurred. In addition, this description lacks insight into the entangled relationship between chemical and pharmacological properties, and thus provides limited guidance on how innovative medicinal chemistry strategies can be applied to solve optimization problems, regardless of the stage in the pipeline. Through discussion and illustrative examples, this article seeks to provide insights into the finesse of medicinal chemistry and the subtlety of balancing chemical properties pharmacology. In so doing, it aims to serve as an accessible and simple-to-digest guide for anyone who wishes to learn about the underlying principles of medicinal chemistry, in a context that has been decoupled from the pipeline description.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clinton G L Veale
- School of Chemistry and Physics, Pietermaritzburg Campus, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X01, Pietermaritzburg, Scottsville, 3209, South Africa
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Yang ZY, Dong J, Yang ZJ, Yin M, Jiang HL, Lu AP, Chen X, Hou TJ, Cao DS. ChemFLuo: a web-server for structure analysis and identification of fluorescent compounds. Brief Bioinform 2020; 22:5985287. [PMID: 33201188 DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbaa282] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2020] [Revised: 09/12/2020] [Accepted: 09/25/2020] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Fluorescent detection methods are indispensable tools for chemical biology. However, the frequent appearance of potential fluorescent compound has greatly interfered with the recognition of compounds with genuine activity. Such fluorescence interference is especially difficult to identify as it is reproducible and possesses concentration-dependent characteristic. Therefore, the development of a credible screening tool to detect fluorescent compounds from chemical libraries is urgently needed in early stages of drug discovery. RESULTS In this study, we developed a webserver ChemFLuo for fluorescent compound detection, based on two large and high-quality training datasets containing 4906 blue and 8632 green fluorescent compounds. These molecules were used to construct a group of prediction models based on the combination of three machine learning algorithms and seven types of molecular representations. The best blue fluorescence prediction model achieved with balanced accuracy (BA) = 0.858 and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) = 0.931 for the validation set, and BA = 0.823 and AUC = 0.903 for the test set. The best green fluorescence prediction model achieved the prediction accuracy with BA = 0.810 and AUC = 0.887 for the validation set, and BA = 0.771 and AUC = 0.852 for the test set. Besides prediction model, 22 blue and 16 green representative fluorescent substructures were summarized for the screening of potential fluorescent compounds. The comparison with other fluorescence detection tools and theapplication to external validation sets and large molecule libraries have demonstrated the reliability of prediction model for fluorescent compound detection. CONCLUSION ChemFLuo is a public webserver to filter out compounds with undesirable fluorescent properties, which will benefit the design of high-quality chemical libraries for drug discovery. It is freely available at http://admet.scbdd.com/chemfluo/index/.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zi-Yi Yang
- Xiangya School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, 410003, P. R. China
| | - Jie Dong
- Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha, 410004, P.R. China
| | - Zhi-Jiang Yang
- Xiangya School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, 410003, P. R. China
| | - Mingzhu Yin
- Department of Dermatology, Hunan Engineering Research Center of Skin Health and Disease, Hunan Key Laboratory of Skin Cancer and Psoriasis, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410008, P.R. China
| | - Hong-Li Jiang
- Xiangya School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, 410003, P. R. China
| | - Ai-Ping Lu
- Institute for Advancing Translational Medicine in Bone and Joint Diseases, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong SAR, P.R. China
| | - Xiang Chen
- Department of Dermatology, Hunan Engineering Research Center of Skin Health and Disease, Hunan Key Laboratory of Skin Cancer and Psoriasis, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410008, P.R. China
| | - Ting-Jun Hou
- Institute of Innovative Medicine, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, Zhejiang, P. R. China
| | - Dong-Sheng Cao
- Xiangya School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, 410003, P. R. China.,Institute for Advancing Translational Medicine in Bone and Joint Diseases, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong SAR, P.R. China
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Yang ZY, Yang ZJ, Lu AP, Hou TJ, Cao DS. Scopy: an integrated negative design python library for desirable HTS/VS database design. Brief Bioinform 2020; 22:5901981. [PMID: 32892221 DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbaa194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2020] [Revised: 07/27/2020] [Accepted: 07/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND High-throughput screening (HTS) and virtual screening (VS) have been widely used to identify potential hits from large chemical libraries. However, the frequent occurrence of 'noisy compounds' in the screened libraries, such as compounds with poor drug-likeness, poor selectivity or potential toxicity, has greatly weakened the enrichment capability of HTS and VS campaigns. Therefore, the development of comprehensive and credible tools to detect noisy compounds from chemical libraries is urgently needed in early stages of drug discovery. RESULTS In this study, we developed a freely available integrated python library for negative design, called Scopy, which supports the functions of data preparation, calculation of descriptors, scaffolds and screening filters, and data visualization. The current version of Scopy can calculate 39 basic molecular properties, 3 comprehensive molecular evaluation scores, 2 types of molecular scaffolds, 6 types of substructure descriptors and 2 types of fingerprints. A number of important screening rules are also provided by Scopy, including 15 drug-likeness rules (13 drug-likeness rules and 2 building block rules), 8 frequent hitter rules (four assay interference substructure filters and four promiscuous compound substructure filters), and 11 toxicophore filters (five human-related toxicity substructure filters, three environment-related toxicity substructure filters and three comprehensive toxicity substructure filters). Moreover, this library supports four different visualization functions to help users to gain a better understanding of the screened data, including basic feature radar chart, feature-feature-related scatter diagram, functional group marker gram and cloud gram. CONCLUSION Scopy provides a comprehensive Python package to filter out compounds with undesirable properties or substructures, which will benefit the design of high-quality chemical libraries for drug design and discovery. It is freely available at https://github.com/kotori-y/Scopy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zi-Yi Yang
- Xiangya School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Central South University (Changsha)
| | - Zhi-Jiang Yang
- Xiangya School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Central South University
| | - Ai-Ping Lu
- Institute for Advancing Translational Medicine in Bone and Joint Diseases, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong
| | - Ting-Jun Hou
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, China
| | - Dong-Sheng Cao
- Xiangya School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Central South University, China
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Xu Y, Cai C, Wang S, Lai L, Pei J. Efficient molecular encoders for virtual screening. DRUG DISCOVERY TODAY. TECHNOLOGIES 2019; 32-33:19-27. [PMID: 33386090 DOI: 10.1016/j.ddtec.2020.08.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2020] [Revised: 08/23/2020] [Accepted: 08/28/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Molecular representations encoding molecular structure information play critical roles in molecular virtual screening (VS). In order to improve VS performance, an abundance of molecular encoders have been developed and tested by various VS challenges. Combinational strategies were also used to improve the performance. Deep learning (DL)-based molecular encoders have attracted much attention for their automatic information extraction ability. In this review, we present an overview of two-dimensional-, three-dimensional-, and DL-based molecular encoders, summarize recent progress of VS using DL technologies, and propose a general framework of DL molecular encoder-based VS. Perspectives on the future directions of molecular representations and applications in the prediction of active compounds are also provided.
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Affiliation(s)
- Youjun Xu
- BNLMS, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences at the College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, PR China
| | - Chenjing Cai
- Center for Quantitative Biology, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing 100871, PR China
| | - Shiwei Wang
- PTN Graduate Program, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, 100871, PR China
| | - Luhua Lai
- BNLMS, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences at the College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, PR China; Center for Quantitative Biology, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing 100871, PR China.
| | - Jianfeng Pei
- Center for Quantitative Biology, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing 100871, PR China.
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