Chemical space exploration based on recurrent neural networks: applications in discovering kinase inhibitors

Abstract With the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) in drug discovery, de novo molecular generation provides new ways to explore chemical space. However, because de novo molecular generation methods rely on abundant known molecules, generated molecules may have a problem of novelty. Novelty is im...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Xuanyi Li, Yinqiu Xu, Hequan Yao, Kejiang Lin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2020-06-01
Series:Journal of Cheminformatics
Subjects:
Online Access:http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13321-020-00446-3
Description
Summary:Abstract With the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) in drug discovery, de novo molecular generation provides new ways to explore chemical space. However, because de novo molecular generation methods rely on abundant known molecules, generated molecules may have a problem of novelty. Novelty is important in highly competitive areas of medicinal chemistry, such as the discovery of kinase inhibitors. In this study, de novo molecular generation based on recurrent neural networks was applied to discover a new chemical space of kinase inhibitors. During the application, the practicality was evaluated, and new inspiration was found. With the successful discovery of one potent Pim1 inhibitor and two lead compounds that inhibit CDK4, AI-based molecular generation shows potentials in drug discovery and development.
ISSN:1758-2946