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Ariaeenejad S, Gharechahi J, Foroozandeh Shahraki M, Fallah Atanaki F, Han JL, Ding XZ, Hildebrand F, Bahram M, Kavousi K, Hosseini Salekdeh G. Precision enzyme discovery through targeted mining of metagenomic data. NATURAL PRODUCTS AND BIOPROSPECTING 2024; 14:7. [PMID: 38200389 PMCID: PMC10781932 DOI: 10.1007/s13659-023-00426-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2023] [Accepted: 12/19/2023] [Indexed: 01/12/2024]
Abstract
Metagenomics has opened new avenues for exploring the genetic potential of uncultured microorganisms, which may serve as promising sources of enzymes and natural products for industrial applications. Identifying enzymes with improved catalytic properties from the vast amount of available metagenomic data poses a significant challenge that demands the development of novel computational and functional screening tools. The catalytic properties of all enzymes are primarily dictated by their structures, which are predominantly determined by their amino acid sequences. However, this aspect has not been fully considered in the enzyme bioprospecting processes. With the accumulating number of available enzyme sequences and the increasing demand for discovering novel biocatalysts, structural and functional modeling can be employed to identify potential enzymes with novel catalytic properties. Recent efforts to discover new polysaccharide-degrading enzymes from rumen metagenome data using homology-based searches and machine learning-based models have shown significant promise. Here, we will explore various computational approaches that can be employed to screen and shortlist metagenome-derived enzymes as potential biocatalyst candidates, in conjunction with the wet lab analytical methods traditionally used for enzyme characterization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shohreh Ariaeenejad
- Department of Systems and Synthetic Biology, Agricultural Biotechnology Research Institute of Iran (ABRII), Agricultural Research Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Karaj, Iran
| | - Javad Gharechahi
- Human Genetics Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Mehdi Foroozandeh Shahraki
- Laboratory of Complex Biological Systems and Bioinformatics (CBB), Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics (IBB), University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Fereshteh Fallah Atanaki
- Laboratory of Complex Biological Systems and Bioinformatics (CBB), Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics (IBB), University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Jian-Lin Han
- Livestock Genetics Program, International Livestock Research, Institute (ILRI), Nairobi, 00100, Kenya
- CAAS-ILRI Joint Laboratory On Livestock and Forage Genetic Resources, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Beijing, 100193, China
| | - Xue-Zhi Ding
- Key Laboratory of Yak Breeding Engineering, Lanzhou Institute of Husbandry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Lanzhou, 730050, China
| | - Falk Hildebrand
- Gut Microbes and Health, Quadram Institute Bioscience, Norwich, Norfolk, UK
- Digital Biology, Earlham Institute, Norwich, Norfolk, UK
| | - Mohammad Bahram
- Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Ulls Väg 16, 756 51, Uppsala, Sweden
- Department of Botany, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, 40 Lai St, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Kaveh Kavousi
- Laboratory of Complex Biological Systems and Bioinformatics (CBB), Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics (IBB), University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
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Zheng H, Wang Y, Li F. C-C Motif Chemokine Ligand 5 (CCL5): A Potential Biomarker and Immunotherapy Target for Osteosarcoma. Curr Cancer Drug Targets 2024; 24:308-318. [PMID: 37581517 DOI: 10.2174/1568009623666230815115755] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2023] [Revised: 07/10/2023] [Accepted: 07/12/2023] [Indexed: 08/16/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common primary malignant tumor of bone tissue, which has an insidious onset and is difficult to detect early, and few early diagnostic markers with high specificity and sensitivity. Therefore, this study aims to identify potential biomarkers that can help diagnose OS in its early stages and improve the prognosis of patients. METHODS The data sets of GSE12789, GSE28424, GSE33382 and GSE36001 were combined and normalized to identify Differentially Expressed Genes (DEGs). The data were analyzed by Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genome (KEGG) and Disease Ontology (DO). The hub gene was selected based on the common DEG that was obtained by applying two regression methods: the Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) and Support vVector Machine (SVM). Then the diagnostic value of the hub gene was evaluated in the GSE42572 data set. Finally, the correlation between immunocyte infiltration and key genes was analyzed by CIBERSORT. RESULTS The regression analysis results of LASSO and SVM are the following three DEGs: FK501 binding protein 51 (FKBP5), C-C motif chemokine ligand 5 (CCL5), complement component 1 Q subcomponent B chain (C1QB). We evaluated the diagnostic performance of three biomarkers (FKBP5, CCL5 and C1QB) for osteosarcoma using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. In the training group, the area under the curve (AUC) of FKBP5, CCL5 and C1QB was 0.907, 0.874 and 0.676, respectively. In the validation group, the AUC of FKBP5, CCL5 and C1QB was 0.618, 0.932 and 0.895, respectively. It is noteworthy that these genes were more expressed in tumor tissues than in normal tissues by various immune cell types, such as plasma cells, CD8+ T cells, T regulatory cells (Tregs), activated NK cells, activated dendritic cells and activated mast cells. These immune cell types are also associated with the expression levels of the three diagnostic genes that we identified. CONCLUSION We found that CCL5 can be considered an early diagnostic gene of osteosarcoma, and CCL5 interacts with immune cells to influence tumor occurrence and development. These findings have important implications for the early detection of osteosarcoma and the identification of novel therapeutic targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heng Zheng
- The Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Qingyuan People's Hospital, Qingyuan, China
| | - Yichong Wang
- Department of Orthopedics, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Fengfeng Li
- Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China
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Day EC, Chittari SS, Bogen MP, Knight AS. Navigating the Expansive Landscapes of Soft Materials: A User Guide for High-Throughput Workflows. ACS POLYMERS AU 2023; 3:406-427. [PMID: 38107416 PMCID: PMC10722570 DOI: 10.1021/acspolymersau.3c00025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2023] [Revised: 11/02/2023] [Accepted: 11/07/2023] [Indexed: 12/19/2023]
Abstract
Synthetic polymers are highly customizable with tailored structures and functionality, yet this versatility generates challenges in the design of advanced materials due to the size and complexity of the design space. Thus, exploration and optimization of polymer properties using combinatorial libraries has become increasingly common, which requires careful selection of synthetic strategies, characterization techniques, and rapid processing workflows to obtain fundamental principles from these large data sets. Herein, we provide guidelines for strategic design of macromolecule libraries and workflows to efficiently navigate these high-dimensional design spaces. We describe synthetic methods for multiple library sizes and structures as well as characterization methods to rapidly generate data sets, including tools that can be adapted from biological workflows. We further highlight relevant insights from statistics and machine learning to aid in data featurization, representation, and analysis. This Perspective acts as a "user guide" for researchers interested in leveraging high-throughput screening toward the design of multifunctional polymers and predictive modeling of structure-property relationships in soft materials.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Matthew P. Bogen
- Department of Chemistry, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Abigail S. Knight
- Department of Chemistry, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
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Simoben CV, Babiaka SB, Moumbock AFA, Namba-Nzanguim CT, Eni DB, Medina-Franco JL, Günther S, Ntie-Kang F, Sippl W. Challenges in natural product-based drug discovery assisted with in silico-based methods. RSC Adv 2023; 13:31578-31594. [PMID: 37908659 PMCID: PMC10613855 DOI: 10.1039/d3ra06831e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2023] [Accepted: 10/19/2023] [Indexed: 11/02/2023] Open
Abstract
The application of traditional medicine by humans for the treatment of ailments as well as improving the quality of life far outdates recorded history. To date, a significant percentage of humans, especially those living in developing/underprivileged communities still rely on traditional medicine for primary healthcare needs. In silico-based methods have been shown to play a pivotal role in modern pharmaceutical drug discovery processes. The application of these methods in identifying natural product (NP)-based hits has been successful. This is very much observed in many research set-ups that use rationally in silico-based methods in combination with experimental validation techniques. The combination has rendered the use of in silico-based approaches even more popular and successful in the investigation of NPs. However, identifying and proposing novel NP-based hits for experimental validation comes with several challenges such as the availability of compounds by suppliers, the huge task of separating pure compounds from complex mixtures, the quantity of samples available from the natural source to be tested, not to mention the potential ecological impact if the natural source is exhausted. Because most peer-reviewed publications are biased towards "positive results", these challenges are generally not discussed in publications. In this review, we highlight and discuss these challenges. The idea is to give interested scientists in this field of research an idea of what they can come across or should be expecting as well as prompting them on how to avoid or fix these issues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Conrad V Simoben
- Center for Drug Discovery, Faculty of Science, University of Buea P.O. Box 63 Buea CM-00237 Cameroon
- Structural Genomics Consortium, University of Toronto Toronto Ontario M5G 1L7 Canada
- Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, University of Toronto Toronto Ontario M5S 1A8 Canada
| | - Smith B Babiaka
- Center for Drug Discovery, Faculty of Science, University of Buea P.O. Box 63 Buea CM-00237 Cameroon
- Department of Chemistry, University of Buea Buea Cameroon
- Department of Microbial Bioactive Compounds, Interfaculty Institute for Microbiology and Infection Medicine, University of Tübingen 72076 Tübingen Germany
| | - Aurélien F A Moumbock
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg Freiburg Germany
| | - Cyril T Namba-Nzanguim
- Center for Drug Discovery, Faculty of Science, University of Buea P.O. Box 63 Buea CM-00237 Cameroon
- Department of Chemistry, University of Buea Buea Cameroon
| | - Donatus Bekindaka Eni
- Center for Drug Discovery, Faculty of Science, University of Buea P.O. Box 63 Buea CM-00237 Cameroon
- Department of Chemistry, University of Buea Buea Cameroon
| | - José L Medina-Franco
- DIFACQUIM Research Group, Department of Pharmacy, School of Chemistry, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Avenida Universidad 3000 Mexico City 04510 Mexico
| | - Stefan Günther
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg Freiburg Germany
| | - Fidele Ntie-Kang
- Center for Drug Discovery, Faculty of Science, University of Buea P.O. Box 63 Buea CM-00237 Cameroon
- Department of Chemistry, University of Buea Buea Cameroon
- Institute of Pharmacy, Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg Halle (Saale) Germany
| | - Wolfgang Sippl
- Institute of Pharmacy, Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg Halle (Saale) Germany
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Manochkumar J, Cherukuri AK, Kumar RS, Almansour AI, Ramamoorthy S, Efferth T. A critical review of machine-learning for "multi-omics" marine metabolite datasets. Comput Biol Med 2023; 165:107425. [PMID: 37696182 DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2023.107425] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2023] [Revised: 07/12/2023] [Accepted: 08/28/2023] [Indexed: 09/13/2023]
Abstract
During the last decade, genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomic, and other omics datasets have been generated for a wide range of marine organisms, and even more are still on the way. Marine organisms possess unique and diverse biosynthetic pathways contributing to the synthesis of novel secondary metabolites with significant bioactivities. As marine organisms have a greater tendency to adapt to stressed environmental conditions, the chance to identify novel bioactive metabolites with potential biotechnological application is very high. This review presents a comprehensive overview of the available "-omics" and "multi-omics" approaches employed for characterizing marine metabolites along with novel data integration tools. The need for the development of machine-learning algorithms for "multi-omics" approaches is briefly discussed. In addition, the challenges involved in the analysis of "multi-omics" data and recommendations for conducting "multi-omics" study were discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janani Manochkumar
- School of Bio Sciences and Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, 632014, India
| | - Aswani Kumar Cherukuri
- School of Information Technology and Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, 632014, India
| | - Raju Suresh Kumar
- Department of Chemistry, College of Science, King Saud University, P. O. Box 2455, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia
| | - Abdulrahman I Almansour
- Department of Chemistry, College of Science, King Saud University, P. O. Box 2455, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia
| | - Siva Ramamoorthy
- School of Bio Sciences and Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, 632014, India.
| | - Thomas Efferth
- Department of Pharmaceutical Biology, Institute of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany.
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6
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Yuan Y, Shi C, Zhao H. Machine Learning-Enabled Genome Mining and Bioactivity Prediction of Natural Products. ACS Synth Biol 2023; 12:2650-2662. [PMID: 37607352 PMCID: PMC10615616 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.3c00234] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/24/2023]
Abstract
Natural products (NPs) produced by microorganisms and plants are a major source of drugs, herbicides, and fungicides. Thanks to recent advances in DNA sequencing, bioinformatics, and genome mining tools, a vast amount of data on NP biosynthesis has been generated over the years, which has been increasingly exploited to develop machine learning (ML) tools for NP discovery. In this review, we discuss the latest advances in developing and applying ML tools for exploring the potential NPs that can be encoded by genomic language and predicting the types of bioactivities of NPs. We also examine the technical challenges associated with the development and application of ML tools for NP research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yujie Yuan
- Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
| | - Chengyou Shi
- Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
| | - Huimin Zhao
- Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
- Departments of Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Bioengineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
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Gaudêncio SP, Bayram E, Lukić Bilela L, Cueto M, Díaz-Marrero AR, Haznedaroglu BZ, Jimenez C, Mandalakis M, Pereira F, Reyes F, Tasdemir D. Advanced Methods for Natural Products Discovery: Bioactivity Screening, Dereplication, Metabolomics Profiling, Genomic Sequencing, Databases and Informatic Tools, and Structure Elucidation. Mar Drugs 2023; 21:md21050308. [PMID: 37233502 DOI: 10.3390/md21050308] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2023] [Revised: 05/11/2023] [Accepted: 05/12/2023] [Indexed: 05/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Natural Products (NP) are essential for the discovery of novel drugs and products for numerous biotechnological applications. The NP discovery process is expensive and time-consuming, having as major hurdles dereplication (early identification of known compounds) and structure elucidation, particularly the determination of the absolute configuration of metabolites with stereogenic centers. This review comprehensively focuses on recent technological and instrumental advances, highlighting the development of methods that alleviate these obstacles, paving the way for accelerating NP discovery towards biotechnological applications. Herein, we emphasize the most innovative high-throughput tools and methods for advancing bioactivity screening, NP chemical analysis, dereplication, metabolite profiling, metabolomics, genome sequencing and/or genomics approaches, databases, bioinformatics, chemoinformatics, and three-dimensional NP structure elucidation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susana P Gaudêncio
- Associate Laboratory i4HB-Institute for Health and Bioeconomy, NOVA School of Science and Technology, NOVA University Lisbon, 2819-516 Caparica, Portugal
- UCIBIO-Applied Molecular Biosciences Unit, Chemistry Department, NOVA School of Science and Technology, NOVA University of Lisbon, 2819-516 Caparica, Portugal
| | - Engin Bayram
- Institute of Environmental Sciences, Room HKC-202, Hisar Campus, Bogazici University, Bebek, Istanbul 34342, Turkey
| | - Lada Lukić Bilela
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Sarajevo, 71000 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
| | - Mercedes Cueto
- Instituto de Productos Naturales y Agrobiología-CSIC, 38206 La Laguna, Spain
| | - Ana R Díaz-Marrero
- Instituto de Productos Naturales y Agrobiología-CSIC, 38206 La Laguna, Spain
- Instituto Universitario de Bio-Orgánica (IUBO), Universidad de La Laguna, 38206 La Laguna, Spain
| | - Berat Z Haznedaroglu
- Institute of Environmental Sciences, Room HKC-202, Hisar Campus, Bogazici University, Bebek, Istanbul 34342, Turkey
| | - Carlos Jimenez
- CICA- Centro Interdisciplinar de Química e Bioloxía, Departamento de Química, Facultade de Ciencias, Universidade da Coruña, 15071 A Coruña, Spain
| | - Manolis Mandalakis
- Institute of Marine Biology, Biotechnology and Aquaculture, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, HCMR Thalassocosmos, 71500 Gournes, Crete, Greece
| | - Florbela Pereira
- LAQV, REQUIMTE, Chemistry Department, NOVA School of Science and Technology, NOVA University of Lisbon, 2819-516 Caparica, Portugal
| | - Fernando Reyes
- Fundación MEDINA, Avda. del Conocimiento 34, 18016 Armilla, Spain
| | - Deniz Tasdemir
- GEOMAR Centre for Marine Biotechnology (GEOMAR-Biotech), Research Unit Marine Natural Products Chemistry, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Am Kiel-Kanal 44, 24106 Kiel, Germany
- Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Science, Kiel University, Christian-Albrechts-Platz 4, 24118 Kiel, Germany
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Boswell Z, Verga JU, Mackle J, Guerrero-Vazquez K, Thomas OP, Cray J, Wolf BJ, Choo YM, Croot P, Hamann MT, Hardiman G. In-Silico Approaches for the Screening and Discovery of Broad-Spectrum Marine Natural Product Antiviral Agents Against Coronaviruses. Infect Drug Resist 2023; 16:2321-2338. [PMID: 37155475 PMCID: PMC10122865 DOI: 10.2147/idr.s395203] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2022] [Accepted: 03/16/2023] [Indexed: 05/10/2023] Open
Abstract
The urgent need for SARS-CoV-2 controls has led to a reassessment of approaches to identify and develop natural product inhibitors of zoonotic, highly virulent, and rapidly emerging viruses. There are yet no clinically approved broad-spectrum antivirals available for beta-coronaviruses. Discovery pipelines for pan-virus medications against a broad range of betacoronaviruses are therefore a priority. A variety of marine natural product (MNP) small molecules have shown inhibitory activity against viral species. Access to large data caches of small molecule structural information is vital to finding new pharmaceuticals. Increasingly, molecular docking simulations are being used to narrow the space of possibilities and generate drug leads. Combining in-silico methods, augmented by metaheuristic optimization and machine learning (ML) allows the generation of hits from within a virtual MNP library to narrow screens for novel targets against coronaviruses. In this review article, we explore current insights and techniques that can be leveraged to generate broad-spectrum antivirals against betacoronaviruses using in-silico optimization and ML. ML approaches are capable of simultaneously evaluating different features for predicting inhibitory activity. Many also provide a semi-quantitative measure of feature relevance and can guide in selecting a subset of features relevant for inhibition of SARS-CoV-2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zachary Boswell
- School of Biological Sciences and Institute for Global Security, Queen's University, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK
| | - Jacopo Umberto Verga
- School of Biological Sciences and Institute for Global Security, Queen's University, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK
- Genomic Data Science, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland
| | - James Mackle
- School of Biological Sciences and Institute for Global Security, Queen's University, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK
| | | | - Olivier P Thomas
- School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Ryan Institute, University of Galway, Galway, H91TK33Ireland
| | - James Cray
- Department of Biomedical Education and Anatomy, College of Medicine and Division of Biosciences, College of Dentistry, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Bethany J Wolf
- Department of Public Health Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
| | - Yeun-Mun Choo
- Department of Chemistry, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
| | - Peter Croot
- Irish Centre for Research in Applied Geoscience, Earth and Ocean Sciences and Ryan Institute, School of Natural Sciences, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland
| | - Mark T Hamann
- Departments of Drug Discovery and Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Colleges of Pharmacy and Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
| | - Gary Hardiman
- School of Biological Sciences and Institute for Global Security, Queen's University, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK
- Department of Public Health Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
- Department of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
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Jiang X, Sun Y, Yang S, Wu Y, Wang L, Zou W, Jiang N, Chen J, Han Y, Huang C, Wu A, Zhang C, Wu J. Novel chemical-structure TPOR agonist, TMEA, promotes megakaryocytes differentiation and thrombopoiesis via mTOR and ERK signalings. PHYTOMEDICINE : INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHYTOTHERAPY AND PHYTOPHARMACOLOGY 2023; 110:154637. [PMID: 36610353 DOI: 10.1016/j.phymed.2022.154637] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2022] [Revised: 12/12/2022] [Accepted: 12/28/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Non-peptide thrombopoietin receptor (TPOR) agonists are promising therapies for the mitigation and treatment of thrombocytopenia. However, only few agents are available as safe and effective for stimulating platelet production for thrombocytopenic patients in the clinic. PURPOSE This study aimed to develop a novel small molecule TPOR agonist and investigate its underlying regulation of function in megakaryocytes (MKs) differentiation and thrombopoiesis. METHODS A potential active compound that promotes MKs differentiation and thrombopoiesis was obtained by machine learning (ML). Meanwhile, the effect was verified in zebrafish model, HEL and Meg-01 cells. Next, the key regulatory target was identified by Drug Affinity Responsive Target Stabilization Assay (DARTS), Cellular Thermal Shift Assay (CETSA), and molecular simulation experiments. After that, RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) was used to further confirm the associated pathways and evaluate the gene expression induced during MK differentiation. In vivo, irradiation (IR) mice, C57BL/6N-TPORem1cyagen (Tpor-/-) mice were constructed by CRISPR/Cas9 technology to examine the therapeutic effect of TMEA on thrombocytopenia. RESULTS A natural chemical-structure small molecule TMEA was predicted to be a potential active compound based on ML. Obvious phenotypes of MKs differentiation were observed by TMEA induction in zebrafish model and TMEA could increase co-expression of CD41/CD42b, DNA content, and promote polyploidization and maturation of MKs in HEL and Meg-01 cells. Mechanically, TMEA could bind with TPOR protein and further regulate the PI3K/AKT/mTOR/P70S6K and MEK/ERK signal pathways. In vivo, TMEA evidently promoted platelet regeneration in mice with radiation-induced thrombocytopenia but had no effect on Tpor-/- and C57BL/6 (WT) mice. CONCLUSION TMEA could serve as a novel TPOR agonist to promote MKs differentiation and thrombopoiesis via mTOR and ERK signaling and could potentially be created as a promising new drug to treat thrombocytopenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xueqin Jiang
- State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, West China Medical School, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China
| | - Yueshan Sun
- The Third People's Hospital of Chengdu, Chengdu, Sichuan 610031, China
| | - Shuo Yang
- Key Laboratory of Medical Electrophysiology of Ministry of Education of China, Medical Key Laboratory for Drug Discovery and Druggability Evaluation of Sichuan Province, School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan 646000, China
| | - Yuesong Wu
- Key Laboratory of Medical Electrophysiology of Ministry of Education of China, Medical Key Laboratory for Drug Discovery and Druggability Evaluation of Sichuan Province, School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan 646000, China
| | - Long Wang
- Key Laboratory of Medical Electrophysiology of Ministry of Education of China, Medical Key Laboratory for Drug Discovery and Druggability Evaluation of Sichuan Province, School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan 646000, China
| | - Wenjun Zou
- School of Pharmacy, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan 611137, China
| | - Nan Jiang
- Key Laboratory of Medical Electrophysiology of Ministry of Education of China, Medical Key Laboratory for Drug Discovery and Druggability Evaluation of Sichuan Province, School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan 646000, China
| | - Jianping Chen
- School of Chinese Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Yunwei Han
- The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan 646000, China
| | - Chunlan Huang
- The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan 646000, China
| | - Anguo Wu
- Key Laboratory of Medical Electrophysiology of Ministry of Education of China, Medical Key Laboratory for Drug Discovery and Druggability Evaluation of Sichuan Province, School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan 646000, China.
| | - Chunxiang Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Medical Electrophysiology of Ministry of Education of China, Medical Key Laboratory for Drug Discovery and Druggability Evaluation of Sichuan Province, School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan 646000, China.
| | - Jianming Wu
- Key Laboratory of Medical Electrophysiology of Ministry of Education of China, Medical Key Laboratory for Drug Discovery and Druggability Evaluation of Sichuan Province, School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan 646000, China; School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China.
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10
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Zhao JX, Yue JM. Frontier studies on natural products: moving toward paradigm shifts. Sci China Chem 2023. [DOI: 10.1007/s11426-022-1512-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
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11
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Abstract
As the global burden of antibiotic resistance continues to grow, creative approaches to antibiotic discovery are needed to accelerate the development of novel medicines. A rapidly progressing computational revolution-artificial intelligence-offers an optimistic path forward due to its ability to alleviate bottlenecks in the antibiotic discovery pipeline. In this review, we discuss how advancements in artificial intelligence are reinvigorating the adoption of past antibiotic discovery models-namely natural product exploration and small molecule screening. We then explore the application of contemporary machine learning approaches to emerging areas of antibiotic discovery, including antibacterial systems biology, drug combination development, antimicrobial peptide discovery, and mechanism of action prediction. Lastly, we propose a call to action for open access of high-quality screening datasets and interdisciplinary collaboration to accelerate the rate at which machine learning models can be trained and new antibiotic drugs can be developed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Telmah Lluka
- Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research, David Braley Centre for Antibiotic Discovery, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
| | - Jonathan M Stokes
- Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research, David Braley Centre for Antibiotic Discovery, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
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12
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Liu G, Stokes JM. A brief guide to machine learning for antibiotic discovery. Curr Opin Microbiol 2022; 69:102190. [PMID: 35963098 DOI: 10.1016/j.mib.2022.102190] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2022] [Revised: 07/11/2022] [Accepted: 07/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Rising antibiotic resistance and an alarmingly lean antibiotic pipeline require the adoption of novel approaches to rapidly discover new structural and functional classes of antibiotics. Excitingly, algorithmic approaches to antibiotic discovery are sufficiently advanced to meaningfully influence the antibiotic discovery process. Indeed, once trained on high-quality datasets, contemporary machine-learning and deep-learning models can be used to perform predictions for new antibiotics across vast chemical spaces, orders of magnitude more rapidly than compounds can be screened in the laboratory. This increases the probability of discovering new antibiotics with desirable properties. In this short review, we briefly describe the utility of contemporary machine-learning and deep-learning approaches to guide the discovery of new small-molecule antibiotics and unidentified natural products. We then propose a call to action for more open sharing of high-quality screening datasets to accelerate the rate at which forthcoming antibiotic-prediction models can be trained. Together, we aim to introduce antibiotic discoverers to a sample of recent applications of contemporary algorithmic methods to facilitate the wider adoption of these powerful computational approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gary Liu
- Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; David Braley Centre for Antibiotic Discovery, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
| | - Jonathan M Stokes
- Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; David Braley Centre for Antibiotic Discovery, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
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13
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Malit JJL, Leung HYC, Qian PY. Targeted Large-Scale Genome Mining and Candidate Prioritization for Natural Product Discovery. Mar Drugs 2022; 20:md20060398. [PMID: 35736201 PMCID: PMC9231227 DOI: 10.3390/md20060398] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2022] [Revised: 06/08/2022] [Accepted: 06/14/2022] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Large-scale genome-mining analyses have identified an enormous number of cryptic biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) as a great source of novel bioactive natural products. Given the sheer number of natural product (NP) candidates, effective strategies and computational methods are keys to choosing appropriate BGCs for further NP characterization and production. This review discusses genomics-based approaches for prioritizing candidate BGCs extracted from large-scale genomic data, by highlighting studies that have successfully produced compounds with high chemical novelty, novel biosynthesis pathway, and potent bioactivities. We group these studies based on their BGC-prioritization logics: detecting presence of resistance genes, use of phylogenomics analysis as a guide, and targeting for specific chemical structures. We also briefly comment on the different bioinformatics tools used in the field and examine practical considerations when employing a large-scale genome mining study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessie James Limlingan Malit
- Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Guangzhou 511458, China; (J.J.L.M.); (H.Y.C.L.)
- Department of Ocean Science and Hong Kong Branch of the Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China
| | - Hiu Yu Cherie Leung
- Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Guangzhou 511458, China; (J.J.L.M.); (H.Y.C.L.)
- Department of Ocean Science and Hong Kong Branch of the Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China
| | - Pei-Yuan Qian
- Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Guangzhou 511458, China; (J.J.L.M.); (H.Y.C.L.)
- Department of Ocean Science and Hong Kong Branch of the Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China
- Correspondence:
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14
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Cavas L, Kirkiz I. Characterization of siderophores from Escherichia coli strains through genome mining tools: an antiSMASH study. AMB Express 2022; 12:74. [PMID: 35704153 PMCID: PMC9200922 DOI: 10.1186/s13568-022-01421-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2022] [Accepted: 06/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Although urinary tract infections (UTIs) affect many people, they are usually a disease observed in women. UTIs happen when exogenous and endogenous bacteria enter the urinary tract and colonize there. Cystitis and pyelonephritis occur when bacteria infect the bladder and the kidneys, respectively. UTIs become much serious if the bacteria causing the infection are antibiotic resistant. Since the pathogenic microorganisms have been adopted to current antibiotics via genetic variations, UTIs have become an even more severe health problem. Therefore, there is a great need for the discovery of novel antibiotics. Genome mining of nonpathogenic and pathogenic Escherichia coli strains for investigating secondary metabolites were conducted by the antiSMASH analysis. When the resulting secondary metabolites were examined, it was found that some of the siderophores are effective in UTIs. In conclusion, since the siderophore production in E. coli is directly related to UTIs, these molecules can be a good target for development of future pharmaceutical approaches and compounds. Siderophores can also be used in industrial studies due to their higher chelating affinity for iron. ![]()
Genome mining on nonpathogenic and pathogenic E. coli was studied. Comprehensive and comparative analysis of siderophores were investigated. The results may open a new gate on the development of new drugs on pathogenic E. coli-based diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Levent Cavas
- The Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Department of Biotechnology, Dokuz Eylül University, Kaynaklar Campus, 35390, İzmir, Türkiye. .,Dokuz Eylül University, Faculty of Science, Department of Chemistry, 35390, Kaynaklar Campus, İzmir, Türkiye.
| | - Ibrahim Kirkiz
- The Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Department of Biotechnology, Dokuz Eylül University, Kaynaklar Campus, 35390, İzmir, Türkiye
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15
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Kaari M, Manikkam R, Baskaran A. Exploring Newer Biosynthetic Gene Clusters in Marine Microbial Prospecting. MARINE BIOTECHNOLOGY (NEW YORK, N.Y.) 2022; 24:448-467. [PMID: 35394575 DOI: 10.1007/s10126-022-10118-y] [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: 10/25/2021] [Accepted: 03/17/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Marine microbes genetically evolved to survive varying salinity, temperature, pH, and other stress factors by producing different bioactive metabolites. These microbial secondary metabolites (SMs) are novel, have high potential, and could be used as lead molecule. Genome sequencing of microbes revealed that they have the capability to produce numerous novel bioactive metabolites than observed under standard in vitro culture conditions. Microbial genome has specific regions responsible for SM assembly, termed biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs), possessing all the necessary genes to encode different enzymes required to generate SM. In order to augment the microbial chemo diversity and to activate these gene clusters, various tools and techniques are developed. Metagenomics with functional gene expression studies aids in classifying novel peptides and enzymes and also in understanding the biosynthetic pathways. Genome shuffling is a high-throughput screening approach to improve the development of SMs by incorporating genomic recombination. Transcriptionally silent or lower level BGCs can be triggered by artificially knocking promoter of target BGC. Additionally, bioinformatic tools like antiSMASH, ClustScan, NAPDOS, and ClusterFinder are effective in identifying BGCs of existing class for annotation in genomes. This review summarizes the significance of BGCs and the different approaches for detecting and elucidating BGCs from marine microbes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manigundan Kaari
- Centre for Drug Discovery and Development, Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, 600 119, Tamil Nadu, India
| | - Radhakrishnan Manikkam
- Centre for Drug Discovery and Development, Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, 600 119, Tamil Nadu, India.
| | - Abirami Baskaran
- Centre for Drug Discovery and Development, Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, 600 119, Tamil Nadu, India
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16
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Hemmerling F, Piel J. Strategies to access biosynthetic novelty in bacterial genomes for drug discovery. Nat Rev Drug Discov 2022; 21:359-378. [PMID: 35296832 DOI: 10.1038/s41573-022-00414-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/24/2022] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Bacteria provide a rich source of natural products with potential therapeutic applications, such as novel antibiotic classes or anticancer drugs. Bioactivity-guided screening of bacterial extracts and characterization of biosynthetic pathways for drug discovery is now complemented by the availability of large (meta)genomic collections, placing researchers into the postgenomic, big-data era. The progress in next-generation sequencing and the rise of powerful computational tools provide unprecedented insights into unexplored taxa, ecological niches and 'biosynthetic dark matter', revealing diverse and chemically distinct natural products in previously unstudied bacteria. In this Review, we discuss such sources of new chemical entities and the implications for drug discovery with a particular focus on the strategies that have emerged in recent years to identify and access novelty.
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Affiliation(s)
- Franziska Hemmerling
- Institute of Microbiology, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Jörn Piel
- Institute of Microbiology, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.
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17
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Wenski SL, Thiengmag S, Helfrich EJ. Complex peptide natural products: Biosynthetic principles, challenges and opportunities for pathway engineering. Synth Syst Biotechnol 2022; 7:631-647. [PMID: 35224231 PMCID: PMC8842026 DOI: 10.1016/j.synbio.2022.01.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2021] [Revised: 01/19/2022] [Accepted: 01/20/2022] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Complex peptide natural products exhibit diverse biological functions and a wide range of physico-chemical properties. As a result, many peptides have entered the clinics for various applications. Two main routes for the biosynthesis of complex peptides have evolved in nature: ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptide (RiPP) biosynthetic pathways and non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs). Insights into both bioorthogonal peptide biosynthetic strategies led to the establishment of universal principles for each of the two routes. These universal rules can be leveraged for the targeted identification of novel peptide biosynthetic blueprints in genome sequences and used for the rational engineering of biosynthetic pathways to produce non-natural peptides. In this review, we contrast the key principles of both biosynthetic routes and compare the different biochemical strategies to install the most frequently encountered peptide modifications. In addition, the influence of the fundamentally different biosynthetic principles on past, current and future engineering approaches is illustrated. Despite the different biosynthetic principles of both peptide biosynthetic routes, the arsenal of characterized peptide modifications encountered in RiPP and NRPS systems is largely overlapping. The continuous expansion of the biocatalytic toolbox of peptide modifying enzymes for both routes paves the way towards the production of complex tailor-made peptides and opens up the possibility to produce NRPS-derived peptides using the ribosomal route and vice versa.
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18
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Vuong P, Wise MJ, Whiteley AS, Kaur P. Small investments with big returns: environmental genomic bioprospecting of microbial life. Crit Rev Microbiol 2022; 48:641-655. [PMID: 35100064 DOI: 10.1080/1040841x.2021.2011833] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Microorganisms and their natural products are major drivers of ecological processes and industrial applications. Microbial bioprospecting has been critical for the advancement in various fields such as pharmaceuticals, sustainable industries, food security and bioremediation. Next generation sequencing has been paramount in the exploration of diverse environmental microbiomes. It presents a culture-independent approach to investigating hitherto uncultured taxa, resulting in the creation of massive sequence databases, which are available in the public domain. Genome mining searches available (meta)genomic data for target biosynthetic genes, and combined with the large-scale public data, this in-silico bioprospecting method presents an efficient and extensive way to uncover microbial bioproducts. Bioinformatic tools have progressed to a stage where we can recover genomes from the environment; these metagenome-assembled genomes present a way to understand the metabolic capacity of microorganisms in a physiological and ecological context. Environmental sampling been extensive across various ecological settings, including microbiomes with unique physicochemical properties that could influence the discovery of novel functions and metabolic pathways. Although in-silico methods cannot completely substitute in-vitro studies, the contextual information it provides is invaluable for understanding the ecological and taxonomic distribution of microbial genotypes and to form effective strategies for future microbial bioprospecting efforts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paton Vuong
- UWA School of Agriculture & Environment, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
| | - Michael J Wise
- School of Physics, Mathematics and Computing, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
| | - Andrew S Whiteley
- Centre for Environment & Life Sciences, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Floreat, Australia
| | - Parwinder Kaur
- UWA School of Agriculture & Environment, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
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19
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Discovery of a novel megakaryopoiesis enhancer, ingenol, promoting thrombopoiesis through PI3K-Akt signaling independent of thrombopoietin. Pharmacol Res 2022; 177:106096. [PMID: 35077844 DOI: 10.1016/j.phrs.2022.106096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2021] [Revised: 01/08/2022] [Accepted: 01/20/2022] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
Thrombocytopenia, a most common complication of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in cancer patients. However, there are still no approved agents for the treatment of radiation- and chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia (RIT and CIT, respectively). In this study, a drug screening model for predicting compounds with activity in promoting megakaryocyte (MK) differentiation and platelet production was established based on machine learning (ML), and a natural product ingenol was predicted as a potential active compound. Then, in vitro experiments showed that ingenol significantly promoted MK differentiation in K562 and HEL cells. Furthermore, a RIT mice model and c-MPL knock-out (c-MPL-/-) mice constructed by CRISPR/Cas9 technology were used to assess the therapeutic action of ingenol on thrombocytopenia. The results showed that ingenol accelerated megakaryopoiesis and thrombopoiesis both in RIT mice and c-MPL-/- mice. Next, RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) was carried out to analyze the gene expression profile induced by ingenol during MK differentiation. Finally, through experimental verifications, we demonstrated that the activation of PI3K/Akt signaling pathway was involved in ingenol-induced MK differentiation. Blocking PI3K/Akt signaling pathway abolished the promotion of ingenol on MK differentiation. Nevertheless, inhibition of TPO/c-MPL signaling pathway could not suppress ingenol-induced MK differentiation. In conclusion, our study builds a drug screening model to discover active compounds against thrombocytopenia, reveals the critical roles of ingenol in promoting MK differentiation and platelet production, and provides a promising avenue for the treatment of RIT.
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20
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Papon N, Copp BR, Courdavault V. Marine drugs: Biology, pipelines, current and future prospects for production. Biotechnol Adv 2021; 54:107871. [PMID: 34801661 DOI: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2021.107871] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2021] [Revised: 11/02/2021] [Accepted: 11/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
The marine environment is a huge reservoir of biodiversity and represents an excellent source of chemical compounds, some of which have large economical values. In the urgent quest for new pharmaceuticals, marine-based drug discovery has progressed significantly over the past several decades and we now benefit from a series of approved marine natural products (MNPs) to treat cancer and pain while an additional collection of promising leads are in clinical trials. However, the discovery and supply of MNPs has always been challenging given their low bioavailability and structural complexity. Their manufacture for pre-clinical and clinical development but also commercialization mainly relies upon marine source extraction and chemical synthesis, which are associated with high costs, unsustainability and severe environmental problems. In this review, we discuss how metabolic engineering now raises reasonable expectations for the implementation of microbial cell factories, which may provide a sustainable approach for MNP-based drug supply in the near future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicolas Papon
- Univ. Angers, Univ. Brest, GEIHP, SFR ICAT, F-49000 Angers, France.
| | - Brent R Copp
- School of Chemical Sciences, The University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland 1142, New Zealand.
| | - Vincent Courdavault
- Université de Tours, EA2106 Biomolécules et Biotechnologies Végétales, Tours, France.
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21
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Robinson SL, Piel J, Sunagawa S. A roadmap for metagenomic enzyme discovery. Nat Prod Rep 2021; 38:1994-2023. [PMID: 34821235 PMCID: PMC8597712 DOI: 10.1039/d1np00006c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Covering: up to 2021Metagenomics has yielded massive amounts of sequencing data offering a glimpse into the biosynthetic potential of the uncultivated microbial majority. While genome-resolved information about microbial communities from nearly every environment on earth is now available, the ability to accurately predict biocatalytic functions directly from sequencing data remains challenging. Compared to primary metabolic pathways, enzymes involved in secondary metabolism often catalyze specialized reactions with diverse substrates, making these pathways rich resources for the discovery of new enzymology. To date, functional insights gained from studies on environmental DNA (eDNA) have largely relied on PCR- or activity-based screening of eDNA fragments cloned in fosmid or cosmid libraries. As an alternative, shotgun metagenomics holds underexplored potential for the discovery of new enzymes directly from eDNA by avoiding common biases introduced through PCR- or activity-guided functional metagenomics workflows. However, inferring new enzyme functions directly from eDNA is similar to searching for a 'needle in a haystack' without direct links between genotype and phenotype. The goal of this review is to provide a roadmap to navigate shotgun metagenomic sequencing data and identify new candidate biosynthetic enzymes. We cover both computational and experimental strategies to mine metagenomes and explore protein sequence space with a spotlight on natural product biosynthesis. Specifically, we compare in silico methods for enzyme discovery including phylogenetics, sequence similarity networks, genomic context, 3D structure-based approaches, and machine learning techniques. We also discuss various experimental strategies to test computational predictions including heterologous expression and screening. Finally, we provide an outlook for future directions in the field with an emphasis on meta-omics, single-cell genomics, cell-free expression systems, and sequence-independent methods.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jörn Piel
- Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH), Zürich, Switzerland.
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22
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Li G, Lin P, Wang K, Gu CC, Kusari S. Artificial intelligence-guided discovery of anticancer lead compounds from plants and associated microorganisms. Trends Cancer 2021; 8:65-80. [PMID: 34750090 DOI: 10.1016/j.trecan.2021.10.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2021] [Revised: 10/02/2021] [Accepted: 10/08/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Plants and associated microorganisms are essential sources of natural products against human cancer diseases, partly exemplified by plant-derived anticancer drugs such as Taxol (paclitaxel). Natural products provide diverse mechanisms of action and can be used directly or as prodrugs for further anticancer optimization. Despite the success, major bottlenecks can delay anticancer lead discovery and implementation. Recent advances in sequencing and omics-related technology have provided a mine of information for developing new therapeutics from natural products. Artificial intelligence (AI), including machine learning (ML), has offered powerful techniques for extensive data analysis and prediction-making in anticancer leads discovery. This review presents an overview of current AI-guided solutions to discover anticancer lead compounds, focusing on natural products from plants and associated microorganisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gang Li
- Department of Natural Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, People's Republic of China.
| | - Ping Lin
- Department of Natural Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, People's Republic of China
| | - Ke Wang
- Department of Natural Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, People's Republic of China
| | - Chen-Chen Gu
- Department of Natural Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, People's Republic of China
| | - Souvik Kusari
- Center for Mass Spectrometry, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Technische Universität Dortmund, Dortmund 44227, Germany.
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23
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Daley SK, Cordell GA. Alkaloids in Contemporary Drug Discovery to Meet Global Disease Needs. Molecules 2021; 26:molecules26133800. [PMID: 34206470 PMCID: PMC8270272 DOI: 10.3390/molecules26133800] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2021] [Revised: 06/05/2021] [Accepted: 06/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
An overview is presented of the well-established role of alkaloids in drug discovery, the application of more sustainable chemicals, and biological approaches, and the implementation of information systems to address the current challenges faced in meeting global disease needs. The necessity for a new international paradigm for natural product discovery and development for the treatment of multidrug resistant organisms, and rare and neglected tropical diseases in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the Quintuple Helix is discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Geoffrey A. Cordell
- Natural Products Inc., Evanston, IL 60202, USA;
- Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA
- Correspondence:
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24
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Jeon J, Kang S, Kim HU. Predicting biochemical and physiological effects of natural products from molecular structures using machine learning. Nat Prod Rep 2021; 38:1954-1966. [PMID: 34047331 DOI: 10.1039/d1np00016k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Covering: 2016 to 2021Discovery of novel natural products has been greatly facilitated by advances in genome sequencing, genome mining and analytical techniques. As a result, the volume of data for natural products has increased over the years, which started to serve as ingredients for developing machine learning models. In the past few years, a number of machine learning models have been developed to examine various aspects of a molecule by effectively processing its molecular structure. Understanding of the biological effects of natural products can benefit from such machine learning approaches. In this context, this Highlight reviews recent studies on machine learning models developed to infer various biological effects of molecules. A particular attention is paid to molecular featurization, or computational representation of a molecular structure, which is an essential process during the development of a machine learning model. Technical challenges associated with the use of machine learning for natural products are further discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junhyeok Jeon
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea.
| | - Seongmo Kang
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea.
| | - Hyun Uk Kim
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea. and KAIST Institute for Artificial Intelligence, KAIST, Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea and BioProcess Engineering Research Center and BioInformatics Research Center, KAIST, Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea
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25
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An Analysis of Biosynthesis Gene Clusters and Bioactivity of Marine Bacterial Symbionts. Curr Microbiol 2021; 78:2522-2533. [PMID: 34041587 DOI: 10.1007/s00284-021-02535-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2020] [Accepted: 05/05/2021] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
Symbiotic marine bacteria have a pivotal role in drug discovery due to the synthesis of diverse biologically potential compounds. The marine bacterial phyla proteobacteria, actinobacteria and firmicutes are commonly associated with marine macro organisms and frequently reported as dominant bioactive compound producers. They can produce biologically active compounds that possess antimicrobial, antiviral, antitumor, antibiofilm and antifouling properties. Synthesis of these bioactive compounds is controlled by a set of genes of their genomes that is known as biosynthesis gene clusters (BGCs). The development in the field of biotechnology and bioinformatics has uncovered the potential BGCs of the bacterial genome and its functions. Now-a-days researchers have focused their attention on the identification of potential BGCs for the discovery of novel bioactive compounds using advanced technology. This review highlights the marine bacterial symbionts and their BGCs which are responsible for the synthesis of bioactive compounds.
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