Frontiers in Chemistry (Apr 2024)

Quantum-assisted fragment-based automated structure generator (QFASG) for small molecule design: an in vitro study

  • Sergei Evteev,
  • Yan Ivanenkov,
  • Ivan Semenov,
  • Maxim Malkov,
  • Olga Mazaleva,
  • Artem Bodunov,
  • Dmitry Bezrukov,
  • Denis Sidorenko,
  • Victor Terentiev,
  • Alex Malyshev,
  • Bogdan Zagribelnyy,
  • Anastasia Korzhenevskaya,
  • Alex Aliper,
  • Alex Zhavoronkov

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fchem.2024.1382512
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12

Abstract

Read online

Introduction: The significance of automated drug design using virtual generative models has steadily grown in recent years. While deep learning-driven solutions have received growing attention, only a few modern AI-assisted generative chemistry platforms have demonstrated the ability to produce valuable structures. At the same time, virtual fragment-based drug design, which was previously less popular due to the high computational costs, has become more attractive with the development of new chemoinformatic techniques and powerful computing technologies.Methods: We developed Quantum-assisted Fragment-based Automated Structure Generator (QFASG), a fully automated algorithm designed to construct ligands for a target protein using a library of molecular fragments. QFASG was applied to generating new structures of CAMKK2 and ATM inhibitors.Results: New low-micromolar inhibitors of CAMKK2 and ATM were designed using the algorithm.Discussion: These findings highlight the algorithm’s potential in designing primary hits for further optimization and showcase the capabilities of QFASG as an effective tool in this field.

Keywords