Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31430292›Full record

ArticlePloS one2019

Hidden bias in the DUD-E dataset leads to misleading performance of deep learning in structure-based virtual screening.

Lieyang Chen, Anthony Cruz, Steven Ramsey, Callum J Dickson, Jose S Duca, Viktor Hornak, David R Koes, Tom Kurtzman

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 102 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
102citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

102 citing papers in PubMed.

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  6. ModBindProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026
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42 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Lieyang ChenDepartment of Chemistry, Lehman College, Bronx, New York, United States of America.ORCID 0000-0002-1583-8039
Anthony CruzDepartment of Chemistry, Lehman College, Bronx, New York, United States of America.ORCID 0000-0002-2904-7684
Steven RamseyDepartment of Chemistry, Lehman College, Bronx, New York, United States of America.
Callum J DicksonComputer-Aided Drug Discovery, Global Discovery Chemistry, Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America.
Jose S DucaComputer-Aided Drug Discovery, Global Discovery Chemistry, Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America.
Viktor HornakComputer-Aided Drug Discovery, Global Discovery Chemistry, Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America.
David R KoesDepartment of Computational and System Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
Tom KurtzmanDepartment of Chemistry, Lehman College, Bronx, New York, United States of America.ORCID 0000-0003-0900-772X

Funding

Accounting for Water Structure and Thermodynamics in Computer-Aided Drug DesignR01GM100946 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · PI KURTZMAN, THOMAS PHILIP · 2013 to 2021
$2.7M
Methods, Tools and Resources for Interactive Online Virtual Screening and Lead OptimizationR01GM108340 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · PI KOES, DAVID RYAN · 2013 to 2020
$1.8M
NIGMS NIH HHS R01 GM100946NIGMS NIH HHS R01 GM108340
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Recently much effort has been invested in using convolutional neural network (CNN) models trained on 3D structural images of protein-ligand complexes to distinguish binding from non-binding ligands for virtual screening. However, the dearth of reliable protein-ligand x-ray structures and binding affinity data has required the use of constructed datasets for the training and evaluation of CNN molecular recognition models. Here, we outline various sources of bias in one such widely-used dataset, the Directory of Useful Decoys: Enhanced (DUD-E). We have constructed and performed tests to investigate whether CNN models developed using DUD-E are properly learning the underlying physics of molecular recognition, as intended, or are instead learning biases inherent in the dataset itself. We find that superior enrichment efficiency in CNN models can be attributed to the analogue and decoy bias hidden in the DUD-E dataset rather than successful generalization of the pattern of protein-ligand interactions. Comparing additional deep learning models trained on PDBbind datasets, we found that their enrichment performances using DUD-E are not superior to the performance of the docking program AutoDock Vina. Together, these results suggest that biases that could be present in constructed datasets should be thoroughly evaluated before applying them to machine learning based methodology development.

Indexed as

Databases, PharmaceuticalDeep LearningDrug Evaluation, PreclinicalLigandsPharmaceutical PreparationsProteinsUser-Computer InterfaceLigandsPharmaceutical PreparationsProteins

Identifiers

PMID31430292
PMCPMC6701836

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.