Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41000814›Full record

ArticlebioRxiv : the preprint server for biology2025

MOAST: Mechanism of Action Similarity Tool.

Akshar Lohith, Derfel Terciano, Adam Murray, John B MacMillan, R Scott Lokey

Abstract readPreprint
In one paragraph

Article in bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing 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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

5 authors.

Akshar LohithDepartment of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, 95064, CA, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-7523-5259
Derfel TercianoDepartment of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, 95064, CA, USA.ORCID 0009-0002-4726-5068
Adam MurrayDepartment of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, 95064, CA, USA.ORCID 0009-0006-1673-9485
John B MacMillanDepartment of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, 95064, CA, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-1430-1077
R Scott LokeyDepartment of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, 95064, CA, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-9891-1248

Funding

Urgent Covid-19 Revision to the Center for High-Throughput Functional Annotation of Natural ProductsU41AT008718 · NCCIH · UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER · PI CECH, NADJA B, LININGTON, ROGER G · 2015 to 2024
$10.1M
NCCIH NIH HHS U41 AT008718
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Determining the mechanism of action (MOA) for natural products remains a significant bottleneck in drug discovery, particularly for researchers with limited computational resources or small compound libraries. Traditional approaches require screening large numbers of annotated compounds alongside unknowns, which is cost-prohibitive, or depend on complex machine learning models that need substantial computational resources and large datasets. Here, we present a dissertation chapter excerpt: MOAST (Mechanism of Action Similarity Tool), a BLAST-inspired computational workflow that addresses these limitations by providing rapid MOA hypotheses for newly screened compounds. This chapter investigates two complementary approaches: a kernel density estimation (KDE) method providing statistical significance measures and E-values for MOA class membership, and a CatBoost machine learning classifier for multi-class prediction with ranked outputs. Using cytological profiling data from HeLa and A549 cell lines, MOAST achieved 22% accuracy for the top 5 predictions among ~

Indexed as

cytological profilingdrug discoverykernel density estimationmachine learningmechanism of actionnatural productsphenotypic screening

Identifiers

PMID41000814
PMCPMC12458938

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.