Rational drug repositioning for coronavirus-associated diseases using directional mapping and side-effect inference

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Drug Repurposing Hypothesis Generation Using the "RE:fine Drugs" System
05:10

Drug Repurposing Hypothesis Generation Using the "RE:fine Drugs" System

Published on: December 11, 2016

9.7K

Jianhua Wang1,2,3, Jiaojiao Liu4, Menghan Luo2,3

  • 1Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, The Province and Ministry Co-sponsored Collaborative Innovation Center for Medical Epigenetics, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Molecular Cancer Epidemiology, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China.

Iscience
|October 21, 2022
PubMed

Insights

Researchers identified 29 FDA-approved drugs for treating COVID-19 by analyzing host genes and drug interactions. This catalog offers new therapeutic strategies for severe cases of coronavirus disease 2019.

Area of Science:

  • Virology and Computational Biology
  • Drug Discovery and Repurposing
  • Genomics and Network Medicine

Background:

  • Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes COVID-19, a global health crisis with millions of deaths.
  • Identifying effective treatments with minimal side effects for COVID-19 remains a critical challenge.
  • Understanding host-pathogen interactions is key to developing targeted therapies.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To discover druggable host genes associated with coronaviruses (CoVs) using multiscale omics data.
  • To develop a network-based method for investigating drug-host gene-CoV interactions and mechanisms of action.
  • To identify potential repurposed drugs for COVID-19 treatment, considering efficacy, safety, and comorbidity effects.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized multiscale omics data to identify host genes implicated in CoV infections.
  • Developed an end-to-end network approach to analyze drug-host gene-CoV pathways and drug mechanisms.
  • Assessed potential drug side effects on common comorbidities and prioritized candidates based on drug-target confidence.

Main Results:

  • Established a catalog of host genes associated with three major CoVs.
  • Prioritized 29 Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drugs as potential COVID-19 therapeutics.
  • Seven of the identified drugs are currently in clinical trials for COVID-19 treatment.

Conclusions:

  • The study provides a catalog of druggable host genes linked to CoVs.
  • Prioritized repurposed drugs offer novel therapeutic avenues for severe COVID-19.
  • This approach enhances drug discovery for emerging infectious diseases.
Keywords:
DrugsVirology

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