SYNPRED: the tool developed by the University of Coimbra to predict the effect of new drug combinations for cancer treatment
the increase in pharmacological resistance is a common problem that results from several factors, such as overexposure to anticancer drugs
English version: Diana Taborda
Researchers from the Centre for Neurosciences and Cell Biology of the University of Coimbra (CNC-UC) have developed SynPred (SYNergy PREDiction) a new online platform that uses artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to predict combinations of anticancer drugs.
Currently, the growth of pharmacological resistance in cancer is a common problem that results from several factors, such as overexposure to anticancer drugs. Irina Moreira, leader of the study, researcher at CNC-UC and professor at the Department of Life Sciences of the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the University of Coimbra (FCTUC), explains that "in the clinical area, the problem of drug resistance is minimised by administering not one, but a combination of drugs with synergistic effect, i.e., drugs that together reinforce each other's action, increasing their efficacy and reducing side effects". However, understanding "which pharmacological combinations operate safely and effectively is not only complex, but also a highly expensive and time-consuming process," she adds.
In order to tackle this issue, Irina Moreira's team developed the SynPred platform with the purpose of anticipating the biological response of the combination of anticancer drugs. The researcher specifies that, in the development of the prediction model, the team used "pharmacology data of compounds with potential anticancer activity and biologically based data, among others, from cell lines of several well-known types of cancer. Then, we used a wide range of computational algorithms, leading to combined methods with improved predictive ability.”
The study, published in the journal GigaScience, aims to create the necessary conditions to replace the administration of high doses of anticancer drugs with reduced concentrations of more specific drug combinations, avoiding potential side effects of prolonged use of anticancer medication, such as the development of pharmacological resistance.
This new technology represents a breakthrough in this field, providing a public interactive platform that can be used intuitively on the website.
In addition to Irina Moreira, the team included António Preto, Pedro Matos-Filipe and Joana Mourão, also researchers at CNC-UC. The work was funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through the project "Deep learning in cancer drug discovery: a pipeline for the generation of new therapies"
The study is available here.