From the Proteome to Therapeutics: A Multi-Database Approach to Drug Discovery in Periodontitis-An Exploratory Pilot...

Area of Science:

• Biomolecular Sciences
• Pharmacology
• Periodontology

Background:

• Periodontitis poses a significant global health challenge.
• Current treatments for periodontitis have limitations.
• Novel therapeutic strategies are needed for effective periodontitis management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a workflow for identifying approved drugs that can be repurposed for periodontitis therapy.
• To leverage salivary proteomics and drug-target databases for drug discovery.
• To identify potential drug candidates for periodontal treatment.

Main Methods:

• Salivary proteomic analysis using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) in two independent study settings.
• Statistical analysis employing stringent and lenient criteria to identify potential protein targets.
• Drug-target database screening to identify approved drugs associated with identified protein targets.

Main Results:

• A workflow successfully identified potential therapeutic targets and drug candidates for periodontitis.
• One (nine) protein targets were identified as known drug targets, with one (seven) being potential targets in periodontitis.
• Eight approved drugs were identified as having potential for repurposing in periodontal treatment, with several showing preclinical efficacy.

Conclusions:

• The developed workflow is effective in identifying approved drugs for periodontitis repurposing.
• This approach offers a promising strategy for discovering novel periodontal therapies.
• Further investigation into the identified drugs may lead to new treatment options for periodontitis.