Transporter assays and assay ontologies: useful tools for drug discovery

Drug Discov Today Technol. 2014 Jun:12:e47-54. doi: 10.1016/j.ddtec.2014.03.005.

Abstract

Transport proteins represent an eminent class of drug targets and ADMET (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, toxicity) associated genes. There exists a large number of distinct activity assays for transport proteins, depending on not only the measurement needed (e.g. transport activity, strength of ligand–protein interaction), but also due to heterogeneous assay setups used by different research groups. Efforts to systematically organize this (divergent) bioassay data have large potential impact in Public-Private partnership and conventional commercial drug discovery. In this short review, we highlight some of the frequently used high-throughput assays for transport proteins, and we discuss emerging assay ontologies and their application to this field. Focusing on human P-glycoprotein (Multidrug resistance protein 1; gene name: ABCB1, MDR1), we exemplify how annotation of bioassay data per target class could improve and add to existing ontologies, and we propose to include an additional layer of metadata supporting data fusion across different bioassays.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Biological Ontologies*
  • Drug Discovery / methods*
  • High-Throughput Screening Assays*
  • Membrane Transport Proteins* / chemistry
  • Membrane Transport Proteins* / classification
  • Membrane Transport Proteins* / metabolism
  • Pharmaceutical Preparations / chemistry
  • Pharmaceutical Preparations / metabolism

Substances

  • Membrane Transport Proteins
  • Pharmaceutical Preparations