Key Points:
- New research can help scientists maximize the potential for drug discovery success.
- Gene expression and cell morphology provide different information for drug prioritization.
- When combined, the two methods paint a more comprehensive picture that can advance drug discovery, genomics and precision medicine.
A new paper by researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus expounds on the importance of using multiple data types in drug discovery.
For the paper, published in Cell Systems, the researchers screened over 1,000 drugs tested in six doses. The results, according to the team, demonstrate that the two most popular methods—gene expression and cell morphology—should be used in tandem.
“We believe these two popular methods can be used to our advantage in designing drugs that address the full complexity of biology,” said study co-author Gregory Way, assistant professor in biomedical informatics at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.
Way and a team of data scientists found that the two data types provide a partially shared but also complementary view of drug mechanisms. They said using both approaches can advance drug discovery, functional genomics and precision medicine in unique directions.
“While labeling drugs based on mechanism of action is incredibly powerful, the approach risks missing a bigger picture,” said Way. “Both data types, collected via phenotypic drug screening, embrace the complexity of biology and can allow scientists to study and leverage the multifaceted effects drugs can offer.”
The paper shows how the assays compare with each other on useful biological tasks—such as mechanism of action prediction—given all the sources of variation/noise and current best practices in data processing.
“We hope our analysis can guide researchers in experimental design and in understanding the limitations of their particular profiling modality to provide more consistent measurements and maximize potential for drug discovery successes,” said Way.
The team said the study results are particularly useful for scientists whose research includes profiling cells for reversing disease phenotypes, quantifying cell response to chemical or genetic perturbation, and/or querying drug mechanisms.
Information provided by University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.