Open MoA: revealing the mechanism of action (MoA) based on network topology and hierarchy

Drug Mechanism: A bioinformatic update

A drug Mechanism of Action (MoA) is a complex biological phenomenon that describes how a bioactive compound produces a pharmacological effect. The complete knowledge of MoA is fundamental to fully understanding the drug activity. Over the years, many experimental methods have been developed and a huge quantity of data has been produced. Nowadays, considering the increasing omics data availability and the improvement of the accessible computational resources, the study of a drug MoA is conducted by integrating experimental and bioinformatics approaches. The development of new in silico solutions for this type of analysis is continuously ongoing; herein, an updating review on such bioinformatic methods is presented. The methodologies cited are based on multi-omics data integration in biochemical networks and Machine Learning (ML). The multiple types of usable input data and the advantages and disadvantages of each method have been analyzed, with a focus on their applications. Three specific research areas (i.e. cancer drug development, antibiotics discovery, and drug repurposing) have been chosen for their importance in the drug discovery fields in which the study of drug MoA, through novel bioinformatics approaches, is particularly productive.

Design and synthesis of novel JNK inhibitors targeting liver pyruvate kinase for the treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) comprises a broad range of liver disease including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with is no FDA-approved drug. Liver pyruvate kinase (PKL) is a major regulator of metabolic flux and ATP generation in liver presenting a potential target for the treatment of NAFLD. Based on our recent finding of JNK-5A's effectiveness in inhibiting PKLR expression through a drug repositioning pipeline, this study aims to improve its efficacy further. We synthesized a series of JNK-5A analogues with targeted modifications, guided by molecular docking studies. These compounds were evaluated for their activities on PKL expression, cell viability, triacylglyceride (TAG) levels, and the expressions of steatosis-related proteins in the human HepG2 cell line. Subsequently, the efficacy of these compounds was assessed in reducing TAG level and toxicity. Compounds 40 (SET-151) and 41 (SET-152) proved to be the most efficient in reducing TAG levels (11.51 ± 0.90 % and 10.77 ± 0.67 %) and demonstrated lower toxicity (61.60 ± 5.00 % and 43.87 ± 1.42 %) in HepG2 cells. Additionally, all synthesized compounds were evaluated for their anti-cancer properties revealing that compound 74 (SET-171) exhibited the highest toxicity in cell viability with IC50 values of 8.82 µM and 2.97 µM in HepG2 and Huh7 cell lines, respectively. To summarize, compounds 40 (SET-151) and 41 (SET-152) show potential for treating NAFLD, while compound 74 (SET-171) holds potential for HCC therapy.