Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42032039›Full record

ArticleNature biomedical engineering2026

DeepDrugDiscovery identifies blood-brain barrier permeable autophagy enhancers for Alzheimer's disease.

Yu Dong, Xianglu Xiao, Xu-Xu Zhuang, Wenfan Wu, Zi-Ying Wang, Shuang Zhang, Jin-Tao Li, Ke Zhang, Wen-Yu Fu, Jun-Ming Chen and 19 more

Abstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Nature biomedical engineering, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing 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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
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

29 authors.

Yu Dong *State Key Laboratory of Mechanism and Quality of Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0002-4836-018X
Xianglu Xiao *Bioengineering Department and Imperial-X, Imperial College London, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8648-6245
Xu-Xu Zhuang *State Key Laboratory of Mechanism and Quality of Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2938-5923
Wenfan Wu *Mindrank AI Ltd, Hangzhou, China.
Zi-Ying WangState Key Laboratory of Mechanism and Quality of Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China.
Shuang ZhangState Key Laboratory of Mechanism and Quality of Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China.
Jin-Tao LiState Key Laboratory of Mechanism and Quality of Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China.
Ke ZhangState Key Laboratory of Mechanism and Quality of Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China.
Wen-Yu FuState Key Laboratory of Mechanism and Quality of Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0009-2911-9359
Jun-Ming ChenState Key Laboratory of Mechanism and Quality of Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China.
Shi Hang XiongState Key Laboratory of Mechanism and Quality of Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China.
Shenglong DengBioengineering Department and Imperial-X, Imperial College London, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0002-3074-2411
Krinos LiBioengineering Department and Imperial-X, Imperial College London, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0008-6477-7341
Chao MaMindrank AI Ltd, Hangzhou, China.
Wangzhen JinMindrank AI Ltd, Hangzhou, China.
Xurui JinMindrank AI Ltd, Hangzhou, China.
Qiwei CaiMindrank AI Ltd, Hangzhou, China.
Han-Ming ShenDepartment of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ministry of Education Frontiers Science Center for Precision Oncology, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China.
Min LiMr. & Mrs. Ko Chi-Ming Centre for Parkinson's Disease Research, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong SAR, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7113-2700
Huanxing SuState Key Laboratory of Mechanism and Quality of Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China.
Jian-Bo WanState Key Laboratory of Mechanism and Quality of Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6750-2617
Hua YuState Key Laboratory of Mechanism and Quality of Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China.
Defang OuyangState Key Laboratory of Mechanism and Quality of Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China.
Keqiang YeFaculty of Life and Health Sciences, Shenzhen University of Advanced Technology (SUAT), Shenzhen, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7657-8154
Evandro F FangDepartment of Clinical Molecular Biology, University of Oslo and Akershus University Hospital, Lørenskog, Norway.
Chris Soon Heng TanDepartment of Chemistry, School of Science, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8172-5235
Guang YangBioengineering Department and Imperial-X, Imperial College London, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7344-7733
Zhangming NiuMindrank AI Ltd, Hangzhou, China. zhangming@mindrank.ai.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7009-946X
Jia-Hong LuState Key Laboratory of Mechanism and Quality of Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China. jiahonglu@um.edu.mo.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1147-125X

Funding

Fundo para o Desenvolvimento das Ciências e da Tecnologia (Science and Technology Development Fund) 0040/2024/RIB1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Dysfunctional autophagy, a key cellular cleaning process, is a key driver of brain ageing and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, developing effective treatments by enhancing autophagy has been challenging, as most known compounds act through the broad mTOR pathway, risking side effects, and few can effectively penetrate the brain. To address this, we developed DeepDrugDiscovery-a mechanism-aware, AI-powered screening platform incorporating ADMET and blood-brain barrier penetrability predictions. Here we show that this platform successfully identified novel, mTOR-independent autophagy enhancers, with two lead compounds demonstrating an ability to cross the blood-brain barrier, clear AD-related protein aggregates and restore memory function in worm and mouse AD models. By releasing DeepDrugDiscovery as an open-source, modular tool, we offer a user-friendly AI platform that enables customized therapeutic screening. Our work establishes a scalable, AI-driven pipeline that integrates cross-species validation to rapidly discover mechanism-based therapeutics for diseases with high unmet medical need.

Identifiers

What OpenQuestion holds

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Read underepoch 390

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.