TumFlow: An AI Model for Predicting New Anticancer Molecules.

Journal: International journal of molecular sciences
Published Date:

Abstract

Melanoma is the fifth most common cancer in the United States. Conventional drug discovery methods are inherently time-consuming and costly, which imposes significant limitations. However, the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has opened up new possibilities for simulating and evaluating numerous drug candidates, thereby mitigating the requisite time and resources. In this context, normalizing flow models by employing machine learning techniques to create new molecular structures holds promise for accelerating the discovery of effective anticancer therapies. This manuscript introduces , a novel AI model designed to generate new molecular entities with potential therapeutic value in cancer treatment. It has been trained on the NCI-60 dataset, encompassing thousands of molecules tested across 60 tumour cell lines, with an emphasis on the melanoma SK-MEL-28 cell line. The model successfully generated new molecules with predicted improved efficacy in inhibiting tumour growth while being synthetically feasible. This represents a significant advancement over conventional generative models, which often produce molecules that are challenging or impossible to synthesize. Furthermore, has also been utilized to optimize molecules known for their efficacy in clinical melanoma treatments. This led to the creation of novel molecules with a predicted enhanced likelihood of effectiveness against melanoma, currently undocumented on PubChem.

Authors

  • Davide Rigoni
    Molecular Modelling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Via Francesco Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy.
  • Sachithra Yaddehige
    Department of Animal Medicine, Production and Health, University of Padova, Viale dell'Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, Italy.
  • Nicoletta Bianchi
    Department of Translational Medicine, University of Ferrara, Via Luigi Borsari 46, 44121 Ferrara, Italy.
  • Alessandro Sperduti
    Department of Mathematics, University of Padova.
  • Stefano Moro
    Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova , via Marzolo 5, Padova, Italy.
  • Cristian Taccioli
    Department of Animal Medicine, Production and Health (MAPS), University of Padova, Viale dell'Università 16, 35020, Legnaro, PD, Italy.