Advances in de Novo Drug Design: From Conventional to Machine Learning Methods.

Journal: International journal of molecular sciences
Published Date:

Abstract

. De novo drug design is a computational approach that generates novel molecular structures from atomic building blocks with no a priori relationships. Conventional methods include structure-based and ligand-based design, which depend on the properties of the active site of a biological target or its known active binders, respectively. Artificial intelligence, including machine learning, is an emerging field that has positively impacted the drug discovery process. Deep reinforcement learning is a subdivision of machine learning that combines artificial neural networks with reinforcement-learning architectures. This method has successfully been employed to develop novel de novo drug design approaches using a variety of artificial networks including recurrent neural networks, convolutional neural networks, generative adversarial networks, and autoencoders. This review article summarizes advances in de novo drug design, from conventional growth algorithms to advanced machine-learning methodologies and highlights hot topics for further development.

Authors

  • Varnavas D Mouchlis
    Department of ChemoInformatics, NovaMechanics Ltd., Nicosia 1046, Cyprus.
  • Antreas Afantitis
    NovaMechanics Ltd. Nicosia, Cyprus.
  • Angela Serra
    Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, University of Tampere, Arvo Ylpön katu 34 - Arvo building, Tampere, FI-33014, Finland.
  • Michele Fratello
    Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, 33520 Tampere, Finland.
  • Anastasios G Papadiamantis
    Department of ChemoInformatics, NovaMechanics Ltd., Nicosia 1046, Cyprus.
  • Vassilis Aidinis
    Institute for Bioinnovation, Biomedical Sciences Research Center Alexander Fleming, Fleming 34, 16672 Athens, Greece.
  • Iseult Lynch
    School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK.
  • Dario Greco
    Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, University of Tampere, Arvo Ylpön katu 34 - Arvo building, Tampere, FI-33014, Finland.
  • Georgia Melagraki
    Nanoinformatics Department, NovaMechanics Ltd., Nicosia, 1065, Cyprus.