Metabolic network analysis predicts efficacy of FDA-approved drugs targeting the causative agent of a neglected tropical disease.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Systems biology holds promise as a new approach to drug target identification and drug discovery against neglected tropical diseases. Genome-scale metabolic reconstructions, assembled from annotated genomes and a vast array of bioinformatics/biochemical resources, provide a framework for the interrogation of human pathogens and serve as a platform for generation of future experimental hypotheses. In this article, with the application of selection criteria for both Leishmania major targets (e.g. in silico gene lethality) and drugs (e.g. toxicity), a method (MetDP) to rationally focus on a subset of low-toxic Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drugs is introduced.

Results

This metabolic network-driven approach identified 15 L. major genes as high-priority t

SUBMITTER: Chavali AK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3388006 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature