Artificial Intelligence in Chemistry: Current Trends and Future Directions.

The application of artificial intelligence (AI) to chemistry has grown tremendously in recent years. In this Review, we studied the growth and distribution of AI-related chemistry publications in the last two decades using the CAS Content Collection. The volume of both journal and patent publications have increased dramatically, especially since 2015. Study of the distribution of publications over various chemistry research areas revealed that analytical chemistry and biochemistry are integrating AI to the greatest extent and with the highest growth rates. We also investigated trends in interdisciplinary research and identified frequently occurring combinations of research areas in publications. Furthermore, topic analyses were conducted for journal and patent publications to illustrate emerging associations of AI with certain chemistry research topics. Notable publications in various chemistry disciplines were then evaluated and presented to highlight emerging use cases. Finally, the occurrence of different classes of substances and their roles in AI-related chemistry research were quantified, further detailing the popularity of AI adoption in the life sciences and analytical chemistry. In summary, this Review offers a broad overview of how AI has progressed in various fields of chemistry and aims to provide an understanding of its future directions.

Cysteine specific targeting of the functionally distinct peroxiredoxin and glutaredoxin proteins by the investigational disulfide BNP7787.

Glutaredoxin (Grx), peroxiredoxin (Prx), and thioredoxin (Trx) are redoxin family proteins that catalyze different types of chemical reactions that impact cell growth and survival through functionally distinct intracellular pathways. Much research is focused on understanding the roles of these redoxin proteins in the development and/or progression of human diseases. Grx and Prx are overexpressed in human cancers, including human lung cancers. BNP7787 is a novel investigational agent that has been evaluated in previous clinical studies, including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) studies. Herein, data from activity assays, mass spectrometry analyses, and X-ray crystallographic studies indicate that BNP7787 forms mixed disulfides with select cysteine residues on Grx and Prx and modulates their function. Studies of interactions between BNP7787 and Trx have been conducted and reported separately. Despite the fact that Trx, Grx, and Prx are functionally distinct proteins that impact oxidative stress, cell proliferation and disease processes through different intracellular pathways, BNP7787 can modify each protein and appears to modulate function through mechanisms that are unique to each target protein. Tumor cells are often genomically heterogeneous containing subpopulations of cancer cells that often express different tumor-promoting proteins or that have multiple dysregulated signaling pathways modulating cell proliferation and drug resistance. A multi-targeted agent that simultaneously modulates activity of proteins important in mediating cell proliferation by functionally distinct intracellular pathways could have many potentially useful therapeutic applications.

Novel covalent modification of human anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) and potentiation of crizotinib-mediated inhibition of ALK activity by BNP7787.

BNP7787 (Tavocept, disodium 2,2'-dithio-bis-ethanesulfonate) is a novel, investigational, water-soluble disulfide that is well-tolerated and nontoxic. In separate randomized multicenter Phase II and Phase III clinical trials in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients, treatment with BNP7787 in combination with standard chemotherapy resulted in substantial increases in the overall survival of patients with advanced adenocarcinoma of the lung in the first-line treatment setting. We hypothesized that BNP7787 might interact with and modify human anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK). At least seven different variants of ALK fusions with the gene encoding the echinoderm microtubule-associated protein-like 4 (EML4) are known to occur in NSCLC. EML4-ALK fusions are thought to account for approximately 3% of NSCLC cases. Herein, we report the covalent modification of the kinase domain of human ALK by a BNP7787-derived mesna moiety and the functional consequences of this modification in ALK assays evaluating kinase activity. The kinase domain of the ALK protein crystallizes as a monomer, and BNP7787-derived mesna-cysteine adducts were observed at Cys 1235 and Cys 1156. The BNP7787-derived mesna adduct at Cys 1156 is located in close proximity to the active site and results in substantial disorder of the P-loop and activation loop (A-loop). Comparison with the P-loop of apo-ALK suggests that the BNP7787-derived mesna adduct at Cys 1156 interferes with the positioning of Phe 1127 into a small pocket now occupied by mesna, resulting in a destabilization of the loop's binding orientation. Additionally, in vitro kinase activity assays indicate that BNP7787 inhibits ALK catalytic activity and potentiates the activity of the ALK-targeted drug crizotinib.

Analysis of BNP7787 thiol-disulfide exchange reactions in phosphate buffer and human plasma using microscale electrochemical high performance liquid chromatography.

BNP7787 (disodium 2,2'-dithio-bis ethane sulfonate; Tavocept) is a novel water-soluble investigational agent that is undergoing clinical development for prevention and mitigation of cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity. BNP7787 is a disulfide that undergoes thiol-disulfide exchange reactions in vivo with physiological thiols. Mesna-disulfide heteroconjugates that form as a result of these exchange reactions may play a key role in the protection against cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity. Although several analytical methods have been used to detect thiols and disulfides, they have notable limitations including (i) low sensitivity, (ii) interference by chemical modification by derivatization reagents, and (iii) cumbersome sample preparation. In this paper, a sensitive micro-HPLC-EC method is described that identifies BNP7787 and mesna in plasma and phosphate buffer across a broad concentration range from 500nM to 100microM. This method utilizes a dual electrochemical detector equipped with a wall-jet gold electrode. The approach described here facilitates the identification of BNP7787 and mesna down to nanomolar levels. Although we did not focus on optimizing the approach for other thiol and disulfide compounds, we believe this approach could be optimized and used in the identification of other thiols and disulfides in plasma. The assay requires significantly less sample preparation and does not involve the use of derivatizing agents (i.e., the thiol and disulfide species can be detected directly) and represents an important advance over previous methods. This method was used to detect and quantitate BNP7787 and to monitor and kinetically characterize the interactions of BNP7787 with glutathione, cysteine, cysteinyl-glycine, cysteinyl-glutamate and homocysteine.