Mutagenicity in a Molecule: Identification of Core Structural Features of Mutagenicity Using a Scaffold Analysis

With advances in the development and application of Ames mutagenicity in silico prediction tools, the International Conference on Harmonisation (ICH) has amended its M7 guideline to reflect the use of such prediction models for the detection of mutagenic activity in early drug safety evaluation processes. Since current Ames mutagenicity prediction tools only focus on functional group alerts or side chain modifications of an analog series, these tools are unable to identify mutagenicity derived from core structures or specific scaffolds of a compound. In this study, a large collection of 6512 compounds are used to perform scaffold tree analysis. By relating different scaffolds on constructed scaffold trees with Ames mutagenicity, four major and one minor novel mutagenic groups of scaffold are identified. The recognized mutagenic groups of scaffold can serve as a guide for medicinal chemists to prevent the development of potentially mutagenic therapeutic agents in early drug design or development phases, by modifying the core structures of mutagenic compounds to form non-mutagenic compounds. In addition, five series of substructures are provided as recommendations, for direct modification of potentially mutagenic scaffolds to decrease associated mutagenic activities.