PROMISCUOUS 2.0: a resource for drug-repositioning.

Area of Science:

• Drug discovery and development
• Computational chemistry
• Pharmacology

Background:

• Drug development is lengthy, expensive, and risky.
• Drug repurposing offers a cost-effective and faster alternative for identifying new therapeutics.
• The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the urgency of rapid drug repositioning.

Purpose of the Study:

• To enhance the accessibility of drug repositioning tools for researchers of all experience levels.
• To provide a comprehensive platform for exploring small molecules, side effects, and drug-target interactions.
• To facilitate the identification of potential drug repurposing opportunities and candidate drugs for various indications, including COVID-19.

Main Methods:

• Development of an improved user interface for enhanced entry-level user experience.
• Implementation of browsing functionality for accessing data on small molecules, side effects, and drug-target interactions.
• Utilizing structural similarity measurements and precomputed drug lists from the Promiscuous 2.0 Database for drug repositioning suggestions.
• Integration of a dynamic network-based visualization to explore interconnections and identify new indications.

Main Results:

• A user-friendly platform (Promiscuous 2.0) is now available for drug repositioning research.
• The platform provides access to extensive data on small molecules, side effects, and drug-target interactions.
• Suggested drug repositioning opportunities and precomputed candidate drug lists, including for COVID-19, are provided.
• Network visualization aids in identifying novel therapeutic applications for existing compounds.

Conclusions:

• The enhanced Promiscuous 2.0 platform democratizes drug repositioning research.
• It significantly reduces barriers to entry for novices and experts in cheminformatics.
• The tool supports accelerated drug discovery and the identification of treatments for unmet medical needs, including emerging diseases like COVID-19.