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The Backbone of Drug Discovery
The Backbone of Drug Discovery
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Introduction
The field of drug discovery is undergoing a remarkable transformation, fueled by
advances in both lab technology and the software used to parse, store, analyze, and
transform data. Target identification and validation are the foundational steps that kick-
start the drug discovery research cycle and historically require an intensive effort. This
could include high-throughput screening in lab and data processing.
A popular example that everyone can relate to—Aspirin. Aspirin is a commonly used
medication that belongs to the class of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).
It is widely known for its analgesic (pain-relieving), anti-inflammatory, and antipyretic
(fever-reducing) properties.
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or not present in sufficient quantities, the drug may not achieve the desired
therapeutic outcome. In short, the target must be an active agent in causation of
the disease and this is a fundamental prerequisite for the effectiveness of a drug. A
good example of this is the treatment of the condition called cystic fibrosis, where
non-sense mutations of the CFTR gene can cause the disease. However, since
CFTR is not present, it becomes an unsuitable focus for therapeutic intervention.
In simpler terms, even if discovery research identifies a biochemically suitable
target, attempting to manipulate something that is not abundantly available, like
the CFTR protein in this case, is not feasible.
In the case of CFTR, scientists found ways of targeting specific deletions on the
CFTR protein (where the deletions behaved more like missense mutations) and for
generally upregulating the number of chloride transporters (targeting upstream
production).
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The targets that are easiest to hit are those that are exposed on the cellular membrane -
targets that are inside the cell mean that certain classes of therapeutics won’t be able to
reach them there. Targets that are inside the nucleus are even harder to hit (notoriously
- antibody therapeutics usually can’t get here). Many oncogenes, which are in the
nucleus) are related to DNA repair and proliferation, and that makes cancer therapeutics
particularly difficult to develop. But the process is not as simple as finding a hittable
target. Once a target candidate has been identified the next key checks necessary are:
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improve the disease, it would also impact multiple other systems, rendering it
impractical as a usable target.
Both of these situations fall under the category of 'off-target' effects. It means that
either hitting the desired target produces undesired effects, or the therapeutic
intervention affects additional targets along with the intended one.
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For other diseases, rather than an up-regulation of an existing process, it’s a mutation in
a gene that is the root cause of disease. One of the most common examples is seen in
cancer, where specific oncogenes undergo mutations in the diseased state. Let's take
non-small-cell lung cancer. In a subset of such cancers, a particular mutation in the
EGFR gene leads to the production of a distorted protein that promotes the
uncontrolled growth of cancer cells. This misshapen protein becomes an ideal target for
therapeutic interventions. Over time, multiple generations of drugs have been
developed to specifically target EGFR, with the most recent one being Osimertinib.
These drugs aim to counteract the effects of the mutated EGFR protein and hinder the
progression of the disease.
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Other drugs, like erlotinib and gefitinib, also target mutant EGFR [3]
The efficacy of these treatments begs the question - how do you identify misshapen or
up-regulated proteins in the disease state? To identify misshapen or up-regulated
proteins in the disease state, researchers start with a model for the disease. In the case
of cancer, where cells undergo mutation and “become” proliferative, the disease model
can be built using genomic data gathered from the tumors of patients. By examining
genomic mutations or biomarkers that consistently appear in predictable patterns in
these patients, they can pinpoint potential abnormalities in protein structure or
expression associated with the disease.
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Most mutated genes from the TCGA dataset for breast cancer [4]
In other diseases, cells can be assayed in vitro to understand the model - for example,
cardiac cells in a dish are often a useful way to understand cardiac arrhythmias.
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Scientists can learn from historical data on drug candidates and adjust their
expectations when exploring new ones. For instance, if they find that a specific target
caused liver damage in a previous drug, they know that hitting the same target with a
different candidate carries a similar risk. With the total number of genes in our bodies
being relatively small, in the tens of thousands, researchers are gradually gaining a
comprehensive understanding of each protein and its downstream effects. As a result,
the utilization of prior knowledge becomes increasingly crucial in drug development.
Although the work done by academic labs is available via peer-reviewed journals, quite a
lot of knowledge on this topic remains siloed within research organizations at biotech
and biopharma companies. When utilized to its full potential, this knowledge can enable
scientists to make more informed decisions and minimize potential risks associated
with off-target effects, ultimately bringing us closer to more effective and safer
therapies.
References
[1] Resler, Alexa & Makar, Karen & Heath, Laura & Whitton, John & Potter, John & Poole,
Elizabeth & Habermann, Nina & Scherer, Dominique & Duggan, David & Wang,
Hansong & Lindor, Noralane & Passarelli, Michael & Baron, John & Newcomb, Polly &
Marchand, Loic & Ulrich, Cornelia. (2014). Genetic variation in prostaglandin synthesis
and related pathways, NSAID use and colorectal cancer risk in the Colon Cancer Family
Registry. Carcinogenesis. 35. 10.1093/carcin/bgu119.
[3] Santarpia, Mariacarmela & Liguori, Alessia & Karachaliou, Niki & Cao, Maria &
Daffinà, Maria & D'Aveni, Alessandro & Marabello, Grazia & Altavilla, Giuseppe &
Rosell, Rafael. (2017). Osimertinib in the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer:
Design, development and place in therapy. Lung Cancer: Targets and Therapy. Volume
8. 109-125. 10.2147/LCTT.S119644.
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[5] Scardino V, Di Filippo JI, Cavasotto CN. How good are AlphaFold models for
docking-based virtual screening? iScience. 2022 Dec 30;26(1):105920. doi:
10.1016/j.isci.2022.105920. PMID: 36686396; PMCID: PMC9852548.
[6] Felix Wong, Aarti Krishnan, Erica Zheng, Hannes Stärk, Abigail Manson, Ashlee M.
Earl, Tommi Jaakkola, and James Collins. Benchmarking AlphaFold-enabled molecular
docking. Mol Syst Biol. (2022) 18: e11081.
Sanjay Saraf is a PM at Benchling, where he helps biotech companies solve data analysis,
automation, and preclinical research problems. He is now focused on Studies, a product which
enables scientists to capture accurate, intelligent, and connected in vivo study data. Prior to
Benchling, Sanjay led healthcare and biology partnerships at Palantir Technologies, focusing on
pharma, government, and clinical organizations.
Vega Shah is a PMM at Benchling. She leads the research-specific applications of Benchling in
biotech and pharma. Previously she was a PM at Dotmatics for ELN and integrations. Before
her industry career she was a scientific researcher at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, UW, and
UC Berkeley.
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