1. Fragment-Based Phenotypic Lead Discovery To Identify New Drug Seeds That Target Infectious Diseases
- Author
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Paul Ogadinma, Yann Ayotte, Laurent Chatel-Chaix, François Bilodeau, Marthe Lebughe, Mena Cimino, Giulia Manina, Aïssatou Aïcha Sow, Frédéric J. Veyrier, Albert Descoteaux, Eve Bernet, Dominic Gagnon, Sarah-Lisa Ouali, Maxime Mistretta, Dave Richard, Steven R. LaPlante, Institut Armand Frappier (INRS-IAF), Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique [Québec] (INRS)-Réseau International des Instituts Pasteur (RIIP), NMX Research and Solutions Inc., Individualité microbienne et infection - Microbial Individuality and Infection, Institut Pasteur [Paris] (IP)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité), Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec-Université Laval (CRCHUQ), CHU de Québec–Université Laval, and Université Laval [Québec] (ULaval)-Université Laval [Québec] (ULaval)
- Subjects
biology ,[SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio] ,MESH: Anti-Infective Agents ,Drug Evaluation, Preclinical ,Plasmodium falciparum ,General Medicine ,Computational biology ,biology.organism_classification ,Leishmania ,Biochemistry ,Small molecule ,Phenotype ,Structure-Activity Relationship ,MESH: Structure-Activity Relationship ,MESH: Drug Discovery ,Anti-Infective Agents ,Drug Discovery ,Nucleic acid ,Molecular Medicine ,Bioassay ,MESH: Drug Evaluation, Preclinical ,Neisseria ,Mycobacterium - Abstract
International audience; Fragment-based lead discovery has emerged over the last decades as one of the most powerful techniques for identifying starting chemical matter to target specific proteins or nucleic acids in vitro. However, the use of such low-molecular-weight fragment molecules in cell-based phenotypic assays has been historically avoided because of concerns that bioassays would be insufficiently sensitive to detect the limited potency expected for such small molecules and that the high concentrations required would likely implicate undesirable artifacts. Herein, we applied phenotype cell-based screens using a curated fragment library to identify inhibitors against a range of pathogens including Leishmania, Plasmodium falciparum, Neisseria, Mycobacterium, and flaviviruses. This proof-of-concept shows that fragment-based phenotypic lead discovery (FPLD) can serve as a promising complementary approach for tackling infectious diseases and other drug-discovery programs.
- Published
- 2021