Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41850287›Full record

ArticleCell2026

Deep-learning-based de novo discovery and design of therapeutics that reverse disease-associated transcriptional phenotypes.

Jing Xing, Mingdian Tan, Dmitry Leshchiner, Mengying Sun, Mohamed Abdelgied, Li Huang, Shreya Paithankar, Katie Uhl, Rama Shankar, Erika Lisabeth and 13 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Cell, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing 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

6 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Review
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

23 authors.

Jing XingDepartment of Pediatrics and Human Development, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, USA.
Mingdian TanAsian Liver Center, Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
Dmitry LeshchinerDepartment of Pediatrics and Human Development, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, USA; Center for AI-Enabled Drug Discovery, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, USA.
Mengying SunDepartment of Computer Science and Engineering, College of Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA.
Mohamed AbdelgiedDepartment of Pediatrics and Human Development, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, USA.
Li HuangDepartment of Pediatrics and Human Development, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, USA.
Shreya PaithankarDepartment of Pediatrics and Human Development, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, USA.
Katie UhlDepartment of Pediatrics and Human Development, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, USA.
Rama ShankarDepartment of Pediatrics and Human Development, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, USA.
Erika LisabethDepartment of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, USA.
Bilal AleiwiDepartment of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, USA.
Tara JagerRichard DeVos Heart and Lung Transplant Program, Corewell Health, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, USA.
Cameron LawsonRichard DeVos Heart and Lung Transplant Program, Corewell Health, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, USA.
Ruoqiao ChenDepartment of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, USA.
Matthew GilettoDepartment of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, USA.
Reda GirgisRichard DeVos Heart and Lung Transplant Program, Corewell Health, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, USA; Department of Medicine, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, USA.
Richard R NeubigCenter for AI-Enabled Drug Discovery, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, USA; Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, USA.
Samuel SoAsian Liver Center, Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
Edmund EllsworthCenter for AI-Enabled Drug Discovery, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, USA; Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, USA.
Xiaopeng LiDepartment of Pediatrics and Human Development, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, USA. Electronic address: lixiao@msu.edu.
Mei-Sze ChuaAsian Liver Center, Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. Electronic address: mchua@stanford.edu.
Jiayu ZhouCenter for AI-Enabled Drug Discovery, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, USA; Department of Computer Science and Engineering, College of Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA; School of Information, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. Electronic address: jiayuz@umich.edu.
Bin ChenDepartment of Pediatrics and Human Development, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, USA; Center for AI-Enabled Drug Discovery, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, USA; Department of Computer Science and Engineering, College of Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA; Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, USA. Electronic address: chenbi12@msu.edu.

Funding

Repurpose open data to discover therapeutics for understudied diseasesR01GM134307 · NIGMS · MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY · PI CHEN, BIN · 2019 to 2023
$2.5M
Role of disrupted ASL pH regulation in small airways in CF lung disease pathogenesisR01HL153165 · NHLBI · MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY · PI LI, XIAOPENG · 2021 to 2024
$2.2M
virtual compound screening using gene expressionR01GM145700 · NIGMS · MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY · PI CHEN, BIN, ZHOU, JIAYU · 2022 to 2025
$1.9M
Screening of novel compounds through the reversal of gene expression in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosisR61HL177451 · NHLBI · HENRY FORD HEALTH + MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · PI Bin Chen, Xiaopeng Li · 2025 to 2026
$1.1M
NHLBI NIH HHS R01 HL153165NHLBI NIH HHS R61 HL177451NIGMS NIH HHS R01 GM134307NIGMS NIH HHS R01 GM145700
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Identifying drugs that reverse disease-associated transcriptomic features has been widely explored for drug repurposing, but its potential for de novo drug discovery remains underexplored. Here, we present gene expression profile predictor on chemical structures (GPS), a deep-learning-based drug discovery platform, guided by transcriptomic features, that screens large compound libraries and optimizes lead molecules. We first develop a model that captures transcriptomic perturbation signatures solely from chemical structures and deploy it to library compounds. We refine scoring methods and employ a tree-search method for optimization. By incorporating structure-gene-activity relationships, we uncover drug mechanisms from transcriptomic data. We evaluate GPS across multiple diseases and conduct extensive validation in two cases. In hepatocellular carcinoma, we discover two unique compound series with favorable cellular selectivity and in vivo efficacy. In idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, we identify one repurposing candidate and one novel anti-fibrotic compound by reversing gene expression of multiple distinct cell types derived from single-cell transcriptomics.

Indexed as

Deep LearningDrug DiscoveryTranscriptomeAnimalsCarcinoma, HepatocellularDrug DesignDrug RepositioningGene Expression ProfilingHumansIdiopathic Pulmonary FibrosisLiver NeoplasmsPhenotypeartificial intelligencecurriculum learningde novo drug designhepatocellular carcinomaidiopathic pulmonary fibrosismachine learningpolypharmacologystructure-gene-activity relationshiptranscriptome reversalvirtual screening

Identifiers

PMID41850287
PMCPMC13041732

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.