1Center for Multidisciplinary Research, University of Belgrade, Institute of Nuclear Sciences VINCA, P.O. Box 522, 11001 Belgrade, Serbia 2Antiparasitic Chemotherapy, UMR 8076 CNRS BioCIS, Faculty of Pharmacy Université Paris-Sud, Rue Jean-Baptiste Clément, F 92290- Chatenay-Malabry, France 3Bench Electronics, Bradford Dr., Huntsville, AL, 35801, USA 4Canadian Blood Services, Center for Innovation, 67 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 2M1, Canada
This article is included in the Ebola Virus collection.
Abstract
The ongoing Ebola virus epidemic has presented numerous challenges with respect to control and treatment because there are no approved drugs or vaccines for the Ebola virus disease (EVD). Herein is proposed simple theoretical criterion for fast virtual screening of molecular libraries for candidate inhibitors of Ebola virus infection. We performed a repurposing screen of 6438 drugs from DrugBank using this criterion and selected 267 approved and 382 experimental drugs as candidates for treatment of EVD including 15 anti-malarial drugs and 32 antibiotics. An open source Web server allowing screening of molecular libraries for candidate drugs for treatment of EVD was also established.
Keywords
Ebola virus, drug candidates, entry inhibitors, virtual screening
Corresponding author:
Veljko Veljkovic
Competing interests:
No competing interests were disclosed.
Grant information:
This work was supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia (Grant no. 173001).
According to Referees’ suggestions we have made the following changes: (i) the explanation why some compounds from Ref. 3 are not included in Dataset1 was added in Material and methods, (ii) the explanation of the AQVN/ISM concept is moved from the Material and methods to Introduction. (iii) Results and discussion is divided in two separate sections.
According to Referees’ suggestions we have made the following changes: (i) the explanation why some compounds from Ref. 3 are not included in Dataset1 was added in Material and methods, (ii) the explanation of the AQVN/ISM concept is moved from the Material and methods to Introduction. (iii) Results and discussion is divided in two separate sections.
The current Ebola virus outbreak is one of the largest outbreaks of its kind in history and the first in West Africa. By January 14, 2015, a total of 21296 probable and confirmed cases, including 8429 deaths from Ebola virus disease (EVD), had been reported from five countries in West Africa - Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sierra Leone (http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/148237/2/roadmapsitrep_14Jan2015_eng.pdf?ua=1). EVD with a high case-fatality rate of 40% and with currently no approved vaccine or therapy, represents a major public health threat.
In response to the current Ebola virus outbreak, the international community has urged for accelerated development of drugs against EVD but also has endorsed the clinical use of unregistered treatments for Ebola1. Conventional time and the money consuming approach of drug development (> 10 years; > 2 billions $) does not meet the current urgent need for anti-Ebola drugs. Repurposing or repositioning of existing drugs could overcome some of these obstacles and help in the rapid discovery and development of therapeutics for EVD, although this approach does not negate the need for some preclinical studies and clinical trials for validation of the proposed indications. Recently, results of two large repurposing screenings of Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drugs have been reported. In the first study, Madrid and co-workers performed in vitro and in vivo (in mice) screening of 1012 FDA-approved drugs and selected 24 candidate entry inhibitors for Ebola virus2. In the second study, 53 inhibitors of Ebola virus infection with IC50 < 10 µM and selectivity index SI > 10-fold have been identified by in vitro screening of 2816 FDA-approved drugs3. In the same study, an additional 95 drugs which are active against Ebola virus infection with IC50 > 10 µM and SI <10-fold were also reported.
Although in vitro and in vivo screening for repurposing/repositioning of existing drugs could significantly accelerate discovery of new drugs these approaches are time-consuming and costly for screening of large drug libraries. Recently, we proposed a novel approach for in silico screening of molecular libraries for drug candidates4–8. This approach, which uses the average quasi valence number (AQVN) and the electron-ion interaction potential (EIIP), parameters determining long-range interaction between biological molecules, might hold a key to overcoming some of these obstacles in experimental screening by significantly reducing the number of compounds which should be in vitro and in vivo tested9. Among 3300 currently used molecular descriptors, AQVN and EIIP represent the unique physical properties which characterize the long-range interactions between biological molecules43. Small molecules with similar AQVN and EIIP values interact with the common therapeutic target, which allow establish criterions for virtual screening of molecular libraries for compounds with similar therapeutic properties4–9.
Here we develop the EIIP/AQVN-based criterion for virtual screening of molecular libraries for candidate drugs against Ebola virus infection. Using this criterion we screened DrugBank (http://www.drugbank.ca) and selected 267 approved and 382 experimental drugs as candidates for treatment of EVD. Anopen access portal allowing screening of molecular libraries for candidate drugs for treatment of EVD was established.
Material and methods
Molecular libraries
For screening of drugs for repurposing to select candidates for Ebola virus entry inhibitors, 1463 approved and 4975 experimental drugs from DrugBank (http://www.drugbank.ca) were screened. For development of the predictive criterion used in this analysis, the learning set (Dataset 1) encompassing 152 drugs which are selected as inhibitors of Ebola virus infection by in vitro and in vivo screening of 3828 FDA-approved drugs2,3, was established. From this Dataset are excluded microtubule modulators from Ref. 3, which do not directly block the entry of Ebola virus, as well as compounds which previously were reported in Ref. 2. As control data sets 45,010,644 compounds from PubChem (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pccompound) and 49 Ebola virus entry inhibitors collected by data mining of literature and patents, were used. For screening of literature data the NCBI literature database PubMed (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed) was used. For search of patents and patent applications we used the Free Patent Online browser (http://www.freepatentsonline.com).
Calculation of AQVN and EIIP parameters of organic molecules
Specific recognition and targeting between interacting biological molecules at distances > 5Å are determined by the average AQVN and the EIIP10, which are derived from the general model pseudopotential11,12. These parameters for organic molecules are determined by the following simple equations10:
Where Z* is the average quasi-valence number (AQVN) determined by
where Zi is the valence number of the i-th atomic component, ni is the number of atoms of the i-th component, m is the number of atomic components in the molecule, and N is the total number of atoms. EIIP values calculated according to equation 1 and equation 2 are expressed in Rydberg units (Ry).
Results
Previously, analyses of the EIIP/AQVN distribution of 45,010,644 compounds from the PubChem database (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pccompound) revealed that 92.5% of presented compounds are homogenously distributed within EIIP and AQVN intervals (0.00 – 0.11 Ry) and (2.4 – 3.3), respectively). This domain of the EIIP/AQVN space, encompassing the majority of known chemical compounds, is referred to as the “basic EIIP/AQVN chemical space” (BCS)6. Analysis of the molecular training set (Dataset 1), encompassing 152 small molecule inhibitors of Ebola virus infection selected by in vitro screening of 3828 FDA approved drugs2,3, show that 79% of these compounds are placed within AQVN and EIIP region (2.3 – 2.7) and (0.0829 – 0.0954 Ry), respectively (“Ebola Virus Infection Inhibitors Space”, EVIIS). The AQVN region (2.36 – 2.54) and the EIIP region (0.0912 – 0.0924 Ry) form the part of EVIIS which encompasses 55.5% of all drugs from the learning set (core EVIIS, cEVIS). Literature data mining reveals 49 compounds with experimentally proved activity against Ebola virus infection (Table 1)13–29. Most of these compounds 47 (95.9%) are placed within EVIIS (Table 1). Of note is that EVIIS and cEVIIS domains contain only 14.6% and 6.5% of compounds from PubChem, respectively. This confirms high specificity of clustering of Ebola virus infection inhibitors within the EIIP/AQVN space. Comparison of distributions of Ebola virus infection inhibitors and compounds from PubMed is given in Figure 1.
Table 1. Small-molecule entry inhibitors for Ebola virus.
Dataset 1.FDA-approved drugs which are active against Ebola virus infection2,3.
AQVN: average quasivalence number; EIIP: electron-ion interaction potential
It was shown that Ebola virus glycoprotein (GP)-mediated entry and infection is subordinated with a membrane-trafficking event that translocates a GP binding partner to the cell surface, which depends on microtubules30,31. Consistently, microtubule inhibitors which block this trafficking process could decrease infection without interfering with the direct binding and translocation of the Ebola virus into cells. AQVN and EIIP values of microtubule modulators and transcription inhibitors with reported anti-Ebola virus activity are given in Table 2. As can be seen, all these compounds, which do not directly affect binding and internalization of Ebola virus, are located outside of EVIIS. This additionally confirms the specificity of the EVIS domain.
Table 2. Viral transcription inhibitors and microtubule modulators with anti-Ebola virus activity.
Compound
Formula
AQVN
EIIP [Ry]
Viral transcription inhibitors
BCX4430
C11H15N5O3
3.000
0.0439
Favipiravir
C5H4FN3O2
3.467
0.1304
C-c3Ado
C12H16N4O3
2.914
0.0112
c3Nep
C12H14N4O3
3.030
0.0552
“D-like” 1’-6’-isoneplanocin
C11H12N5O3
3.194
0.1076
“L-like” 1’-6’-isoneplanocin
C11H12N5O3
3.194
0.1076
CMLDBU3402
C30H26BrN3O7
3.045
0.1343
Microtubule modulators
Vinblastine
C13H8Cl2N2O4
3.310
0.0130
Vinorelbine
C45H54N4O8
2.721
0.0552
Vincristine
C46H56N4O10
2.759
0.0439
Colchicine
C22H25NO6
2.852
0.0121
Nocodazole
C14H11N3O3S
3.312
0.1298
Mebendazole
C16H13N3O3
3.143
0.0934
Albendazole
C12H15N3O2S
2.909
0.0092
In further analysis we used EVIIS as a filter for virtual screening for candidate Ebola virus infection inhibitors. In Dataset 2 622 approved and 1089 experimental drugs in Dataset 3 selected by EVIIS screening of 6532 drugs from DrugBank are reported. Using cEVIIS, we located 267 approved and 382 experimental drugs. This small molecular library represents a source of candidate drugs for treatment of Ebola virus disease (EVD), which can be further experimentally tested.
Database ID
Generic Name
Formula
AQVN
EIIP [Ry]
DB00376
Trihexyphenidyl
C20H31NO
2.301887
0.086554
DB01022
Phylloquinone
C31H46O2
2.303797
0.086811
DB00191
Phentermine
C10H15N
2.307692
0.087326
DB00313
Valproic Acid
C8H16O2
2.307692
0.087326
DB01577
Methamphetamine
C10H15N
2.307692
0.087326
DB06204
Tapentadol
C14H23NO
2.307692
0.087326
DB06709
Methacholine
C8H18NO2
2.310345
0.087669
DB08887
Icosapent ethyl
C22H34O2
2.310345
0.087669
DB01187
Iophendylate
C19H29IO2
2.313725
0.088098
DB01337
Pancuronium
C35H60N2O4
2.316832
0.088483
DB00947
Fulvestrant
C32H47F5O3S
2.318182
0.088648
DB01083
Orlistat
C29H53NO5
2.318182
0.088648
DB00387
Procyclidine
C19H29NO
2.32
0.088868
DB00942
Cycrimine
C19H29NO
2.32
0.088868
DB08804
Nandrolone decanoate
C28H44O3
2.32
0.088868
DB00818
Propofol
C12H18O
2.322581
0.089174
DB01463
Fencamfamine
C15H21N
2.324324
0.089378
DB00137
Xanthophyll
C40H56O2
2.326531
0.089632
DB01616
Alverine
C20H27N
2.333333
0.090387
DB06694
Xylometazoline
C16H24N2
2.333333
0.090387
DB06439
Tyloxapol
C51H80O6
2.335766
0.090648
DB00304
Desogestrel
C22H30O
2.339623
0.091049
DB01339
Vecuronium
C34H57N2O4
2.340206
0.091108
DB00711
Diethylcarbamazine
C10H21N3O
2.342857
0.091375
DB01338
Pipecuronium
C35H62N4O4
2.342857
0.091375
DB00159
Icosapent
C20H30O2
2.346154
0.091697
DB06710
Methyltestosterone
C20H30O2
2.346154
0.091697
DB00182
Amphetamine
C9H13N
2.347826
0.091857
DB01576
Dextroamphetamine
C9H13N
2.347826
0.091857
DB01586
Ursodeoxycholic acid
C24H40O4
2.352941
0.092329
DB06777
Chenodeoxycholic acid
C24H40O4
2.352941
0.092329
DB00230
Pregabalin
C8H17NO2
2.357143
0.092698
DB06718
Stanozolol
C21H32N2O
2.357143
0.092698
DB01359
Penbutolol
C18H29NO2
2.36
0.09294
DB01599
Probucol
C31H48O2S2
2.361446
0.093059
DB00728
Rocuronium
C32H53N2O4
2.362637
0.093156
DB00847
Cysteamine
C2H7NS
2.363636
0.093236
DB01036
Tolterodine
C22H31NO
2.363636
0.093236
DB00297
Bupivacaine
C18H28N2O
2.367347
0.093525
DB00464
Sodium Tetradecyl Sulfate
C14H30O4S
2.367347
0.093525
DB00624
Testosterone
C19H28O2
2.367347
0.093525
DB01002
Levobupivacaine
C18H28N2O
2.367347
0.093525
DB01429
Aprindine
C22H30N2
2.37037
0.09375
DB08924
Amfecloral
C11H12Cl3N
2.37037
0.09375
DB02300
Calcipotriol
C27H40O3
2.371429
0.093827
DB00608
Chloroquine
C18H26ClN3
2.375
0.094079
DB00652
Pentazocine
C19H27NO
2.375
0.094079
DB00396
Progesterone
C21H30O2
2.377358
0.094238
DB00470
Dronabinol
C21H30O2
2.377358
0.094238
DB00486
Nabilone
C24H36O3
2.380952
0.09447
DB01216
Finasteride
C23H36N2O2
2.380952
0.09447
DB01218
Halofantrine
C26H30Cl2F3NO
2.380952
0.09447
DB00285
Venlafaxine
C17H27NO2
2.382979
0.094595
DB00411
Carbachol
C6H14N2O2.ClH
2.384615
0.094694
DB00621
Oxandrolone
C19H30O3
2.384615
0.094694
DB00810
Biperiden
C21H29NO
2.384615
0.094694
DB00941
Hexafluronium
C36H42N2.C2H6
2.386364
0.094796
DB01037
Selegiline
C13H17N
2.387097
0.094837
DB00219
Oxyphenonium
C21H34NO3
2.389831
0.094989
DB01209
Dezocine
C16H23NO
2.390244
0.095011
DB00296
Ropivacaine
C17H26N2O
2.391304
0.095067
DB01244
Bepridil
C24H34N2O
2.393443
0.095177
DB00202
Succinylcholine
C14H30N2O4
2.4
0.095485
DB00379
Mexiletine
C11H17NO
2.4
0.095485
DB00514
Dextromethorphan
C18H25NO
2.4
0.095485
DB00523
Alitretinoin
C20H28O2
2.4
0.095485
DB00755
Tretinoin
C20H28O2
2.4
0.095485
DB00929
Misoprostol
C22H38O5
2.4
0.095485
DB00930
Colesevelam
C22H38O5
2.4
0.095485
DB00982
Isotretinoin
C20H28O2
2.4
0.095485
DB01407
Clenbuterol
C12H18Cl2N2O
2.4
0.095485
DB08808
Bupranolol
C14H22ClNO2
2.4
0.095485
DB00193
Tramadol
C16H25NO2
2.409091
0.095841
DB01255
Lisdexamfetamine
C15H25N3O
2.409091
0.095841
DB06700
Desvenlafaxine
C16H25NO2
2.409091
0.095841
DB00281
Lidocaine
C14H22N2O
2.410256
0.09588
DB00865
Benzphetamine
C17H21N
2.410256
0.09588
DB00332
Ipratropium bromide
C20H30NO3.BrH
2.410714
0.095895
DB00937
Diethylpropion
C13H19NO
2.411765
0.095929
DB01156
Bupropion
C13H18ClNO
2.411765
0.095929
DB00996
Gabapentin
C9H17NO2
2.413793
0.095991
DB01625
Isopropamide
C23H32N2O
2.413793
0.095991
DB01185
Fluoxymesterone
C20H29FO3
2.415094
0.096029
DB00645
Dyclonine
C18H27NO2
2.416667
0.096072
DB00726
Trimipramine
C20H26N2
2.416667
0.096072
DB00268
Ropinirole
C16H24N2O
2.418605
0.096121
DB00935
Oxymetazoline
C16H24N2O
2.418605
0.096121
DB00308
Ibutilide
C20H36N2O3S
2.419355
0.09614
DB00253
Medrysone
C22H32O3
2.421053
0.096178
DB01420
Testosterone Propionate
C22H32O3
2.421053
0.096178
DB05812
Abiraterone
C24H31NO
2.421053
0.096178
DB00857
Terbinafine
C21H25N
2.425532
0.096267
DB00896
Rimexolone
C24H34O3
2.42623
0.096279
DB00854
Levorphanol
C17H23NO
2.428571
0.096315
DB00195
Betaxolol
C18H29NO3
2.431373
0.09635
DB00367
Levonorgestrel
C21H28O2
2.431373
0.09635
DB00378
Dydrogesterone
C21H28O2
2.431373
0.09635
DB01091
Butenafine
C23H27N
2.431373
0.09635
DB01256
Retapamulin
C30H47NO4S
2.433735
0.096374
DB00504
Levallorphan
C19H25NO
2.434783
0.096382
DB00944
Demecarium
C32H52N4O4
2.434783
0.096382
DB01258
Aliskiren
C30H53N3O6
2.434783
0.096382
DB04835
Maraviroc
C29H41F2N5O
2.435897
0.09639
DB00354
Buclizine
C28H33ClN2
2.4375
0.096399
DB00866
Alprenolol
C15H23NO2
2.439024
0.096405
DB00283
Clemastine
C21H26ClNO
2.44
0.096408
DB00333
Methadone
C21H27NO
2.44
0.096408
DB01231
Diphenidol
C21H27NO
2.44
0.096408
DB00770
Alprostadil
C20H34O5
2.440678
0.096409
DB01046
Lubiprostone
C20H32F2O5
2.440678
0.096409
DB04575
Quinestrol
C25H32O2
2.440678
0.096409
DB00189
Ethchlorvynol
C7H9ClO
2.444444
0.096407
DB00458
Imipramine
C19H24N2
2.444444
0.096407
DB00612
Bisoprolol
C18H31NO4
2.444444
0.096407
DB00750
Prilocaine
C13H20N2O
2.444444
0.096407
DB00852
Pseudoephedrine
C10H15NO
2.444444
0.096407
DB01010
Edrophonium
C10H15NO
2.444444
0.096407
DB01019
Bethanechol
C7H16N2O2
2.444444
0.096407
DB01242
Clomipramine
C19H23ClN2
2.444444
0.096407
DB01364
Ephedrine
C10H15NO
2.444444
0.096407
DB06804
Nonoxynol-9
C33H60O10
2.446602
0.096399
DB02703
Fusidic Acid
C31H48O6
2.447059
0.096397
DB01057
Echothiophate
C9H23NO3PS
2.447368
0.096395
DB01122
Ambenonium
C28H40Cl2N4O2
2.447368
0.096395
DB06702
Fesoterodine
C26H37NO3
2.447761
0.096393
DB01611
Hydroxychloroquine
C18H26ClN3O
2.44898
0.096384
DB00961
Mepivacaine
C15H22N2O
2.45
0.096376
DB04896
Milnacipran
C15H22N2O
2.45
0.096376
DB08918
Levomilnacipran
C15H22N2O
2.45
0.096376
DB00654
Latanoprost
C26H40O5
2.450704
0.09637
DB01579
Phendimetrazine
C12H17NO
2.451613
0.096361
DB00611
Butorphanol
C21H29NO2
2.45283
0.096348
DB06713
Norelgestromin
C21H29NO2
2.45283
0.096348
DB00149
L-Leucine
C6H13NO2
2.454545
0.096326
DB00167
L-Isoleucine
C6H13NO2
2.454545
0.096326
DB00264
Metoprolol
C15H25NO3
2.454545
0.096326
DB00321
Amitriptyline
C20H23N
2.454545
0.096326
DB00513
Aminocaproic Acid
C6H13NO2
2.454545
0.096326
DB00780
Phenelzine
C8H12N2
2.454545
0.096326
DB00783
Estradiol
C18H24O2
2.454545
0.096326
DB00934
Maprotiline
C20H23N
2.454545
0.096326
DB06698
Betahistine
C8H12N2
2.454545
0.096326
DB01227
Levomethadyl Acetate
C23H31NO2
2.45614
0.096304
DB01433
Methadyl Acetate
C23H31NO2
2.45614
0.096304
DB00717
Norethindrone
C20H26O2
2.458333
0.096268
DB01012
Cinacalcet
C22H22F3N
2.458333
0.096268
DB01186
Pergolide
C19H26N2S
2.458333
0.096268
DB00184
Nicotine
C10H14N2
2.461538
0.096207
DB00294
Etonogestrel
C22H28O2
2.461538
0.096207
DB00302
Tranexamic Acid
C8H15NO2
2.461538
0.096207
DB00176
Fluvoxamine
C15H21F3N2O2
2.465116
0.096125
DB00925
Phenoxybenzamine
C18H22ClNO
2.465116
0.096125
DB01173
Orphenadrine
C18H23NO
2.465116
0.096125
DB00185
Cevimeline
C10H17NOS
2.466667
0.096085
DB01107
Methyprylon
C10H17NO2
2.466667
0.096085
DB01196
Estramustine
C23H31Cl2NO3
2.466667
0.096085
DB01550
Fenproporex
C12H16N2
2.466667
0.096085
DB00207
Azithromycin
C38H72N2O12
2.467742
0.096056
DB00429
Carboprost Tromethamine
C21H36O5.C4H11NO3
2.469136
0.096017
DB00641
Simvastatin
C25H38O5
2.470588
0.095974
DB08823
Spinosad
C42H67NO9
2.470588
0.095974
DB00291
Chlorambucil
C14H19Cl2NO2
2.473684
0.095874
DB00405
Dexbrompheniramine
C16H19BrN2
2.473684
0.095874
DB00835
Brompheniramine
C16H19BrN2
2.473684
0.095874
DB01035
Procainamide
C13H21N3O
2.473684
0.095874
DB01114
Chlorphenamine
C16H19ClN2
2.473684
0.095874
DB01620
Pheniramine
C16H20N2
2.473684
0.095874
DB00473
Hexylcaine
C16H23NO2
2.47619
0.095785
DB00752
Tranylcypromine
C9H11N
2.47619
0.095785
DB01151
Desipramine
C18H22N2
2.47619
0.095785
DB01176
Cyclizine
C18H22N2
2.47619
0.095785
DB08936
Chlorcyclizine
C18H21ClN2
2.47619
0.095785
DB00905
Bimatoprost
C25H37NO4
2.477612
0.095732
DB00938
Salmeterol
C25H37NO4
2.477612
0.095732
DB01126
Dutasteride
C27H30F6N2O2
2.477612
0.095732
DB06708
Lumefantrine
C30H32Cl3NO
2.477612
0.095732
DB08801
Dimetindene
C20H24N2
2.478261
0.095707
DB08824
Ioflupane I 123
C18H23FINO2
2.478261
0.095707
DB00091
Cyclosporine
C62H111N11O12
2.479592
0.095654
DB00677
Isoflurophate
C6H14FO3P
2.48
0.095637
DB00892
Oxybuprocaine
C17H28N2O3
2.48
0.095637
DB00921
Buprenorphine
C29H41NO4
2.48
0.095637
DB01626
Pargyline
C11H13N
2.48
0.095637
DB08834
Tauroursodeoxycholic acid
C26H45NO6S
2.481013
0.095595
DB00280
Disopyramide
C21H29N3O
2.481481
0.095576
DB00647
Dextropropoxyphene
C22H29NO2
2.481481
0.095576
DB00531
Cyclophosphamide
C7H15Cl2N2O2P
2.482759
0.095521
DB01103
Quinacrine
C23H30ClN3O
2.482759
0.095521
DB01181
Ifosfamide
C7H15Cl2N2O2P
2.482759
0.095521
DB00603
Medroxyprogesterone Acetate
C24H34O4
2.483871
0.095471
DB01050
Ibuprofen
C13H18O2
2.484848
0.095427
DB01104
Sertraline
C17H17Cl2N
2.486486
0.09535
DB08803
Tymazoline
C14H20N2O
2.486486
0.09535
DB01160
Dinoprost Tromethamine
C20H34O5.C4H11NO3
2.487179
0.095316
DB00344
Protriptyline
C19H21N
2.487805
0.095286
DB00540
Nortriptyline
C19H21N
2.487805
0.095286
DB00725
Homatropine Methylbromide
C17H24NO3.BrH
2.489362
0.095208
DB01357
Mestranol
C21H26O2
2.489796
0.095185
DB06730
Gestodene
C21H26O2
2.489796
0.095185
This is a portion of the data; to view all the data, please download the file.
Dataset 2.Approved and experimental drugs selected as candidate for treatment of EVD.
AQVN: average quasivalence number; EIIP: electron-ion interaction potential
Dataset 3.Experimental drugs selected as candidate for treatment of EVD.
AQVN: average quasivalence number; EIIP: electron-ion interaction potential
Discussion
Madrid and co-workers selected 24 drugs by in vitro screening of 1012 FDA-approved drugs, which are effective against Ebola virus infection2. They also showed that among these compounds, four antimalarial drugs (chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, amodiaquine and aminoquinoline-13) also are effective against Ebola virus infection in vivo2. Among 53 compounds which effectively inhibit Ebola virus infection in vitro, which Kouznetsova and co-workers selected from 2816 approved drugs, are also three anti-malarial drugs (mefloquione, chloroquine, amodiaquine)3. It was also suggested that application of chloroquine for prevention of virus transmission should be considered because this compound significantly inhibits Ebola virus infection13. Our analysis showed that 15 of 22 approved ant-malarial drugs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antimalarial_medication) are located in EVIIS (Table 3). Six 2-alkylquinolines have been also included in this study. This chemical series is promising as some derivatives exhibited antiviral activity such as 2PQ, and 2QQ32,33 antimalarial activity such as 2PQ and 2PentQ234, antileishmanial activity such as 2PQ35,36 and neurotrophin-like activity on dopaminergic neurons such as 2QI1537. These compounds exhibit some advantages in regard to their chemical synthesis with few steps and good yields as well as their chemical stability in tropical conditions of storage. Their combined effects against virus and Leishmania parasites suggested they could be an advantage for the treatment of Leishmania/HIV co-infections and they were considered as attractive enough to enter the pipeline of DNDi on 2010.
All these data strongly suggest that this class of drugs should be further investigated as a promising source of therapeutics for treatment of EVD. Anti-malarial drugs with dual activity should be of special interest because malaria represents the highest health-related disease in African countries with EVD.
Among 3828 FDA-approved drugs screened for anti-Ebola activity were six antibiotics which inhibit Ebola virus infection (azthromycin, erythromycin, spiramycin, dirithromycin, maduramicin, charitromycin)2,3. All these antibiotics are within EVIIS and four of them are in cEVIIS. Analysis of 184 approved antibiotics (Dataset 4) showed that only 32 (17.4%) have AQVN and EIIP values in EVIIS, and that 11 of them are located within cEVIIS. Previously we reported domains of AQVN and EIIP which characterize different classes of antibiotics (Table 4)6. According to these data, among antibiotics some macrolides, pleuromutilins and aminoglycosides have the highest chance for inhibition of Ebola virus infection. Of note is that five of six antibiotics with experimentally proved activity against Ebola virus infection (azthromycin, erythromycin, spiramycin, dirithromycin, charitromycin) are macrolides. Antibiotics representing candidate Ebola virus infection inhibitors selected by EIIP/AQVN criterion are given in Table 5.
Table 3. Approved anti-malarial drugs selected as candidate drugs for EVD.
Compound
Formula
AQVN
EIIP [Ry]
Quinine
C20H24N2O2
2.625
0.0784
Chloroquinine
C18H26ClN3
2.375
0.0941
Amodiquinine
C20H22ClN3O
2.638
0.0756
Proguanil
C11H16ClN5
2.606
0.0819
Mefloquine
C17H16F6N2O
2.524
0.0928
Primaquine
C15H21NO3
2.600
0.0829
Halofantrine
C26H30Cl2F3NO
2.381
0.0945
Clindamycin
C18H33ClN2O5S
2.533
0.0919
Artemether
C16H26O5
2.553
0.0897
Piperaquine
C29H32Cl2N6
2.609
0.0814
Artemotil
C17H28O5
2.520
0.0931
Dihydroartemisin
C15H24O5
2.591
0.0844
Quinidine
C20H24N2O2
2.625
0.0784
Cinchonidine
C19H22N2O
2.591
0.0844
Artemisin
C15H22O5
2.667
0.0693
Table 4. AQVN and EIIP range of different antibiotics classes6.
Antibiotic class
AQVN
EIIP [Ry]
Penicillins
2.975 - 3.180
0.035 - 0.124
Cephalosporins
3.071 - 3.473
0.070 - 0.130
Carbapenems & Penems
2.973 - 3.059
0.022 - 0.066
Monobactams
3.166 - 3.581
0.100 - 0.134
Quinolines
2.760 - 3.060
0.003 - 0.065
Aminoglycosides
2.552 - 2.820
0.024 - 0.084
Tetracyclines
2.933 - 3.111
0.018 - 0.084
Macrolides
2.467 - 2.630
0.077 - 0.096
Pleuromutilins
2.395 - 2.473
0.095 - 0.096
Nitrofurans
3.652 - 3.826
0.010 - 0.086
Antibiotics
Formula
AQVN
EIIP [Ry]
Teicoplanins
C77H77Cl2N9O13 -R
2.75
0.046
Telavancin
C80H106Cl2N11O27P
2.863
0.008
Vancomycin
C66H75Cl2N9O24
3.011
0.048
Cefpodoxime
C15H17N5O6S2
3.333
0.132
Tiamulin
C28H47NO4S
2.395
0.095
Retapamulin
C30H47NO4S
2.434
0.096
Valnemulin
C31H52N2O5S
2.440
0.096
Azithromycin
C38H72N2O12
2.468
0.096
BC-3205
C32H51N2O5S
2.472
0.096
Dirithromycin
C42H78N2O14
2.500
0.095
Clarithromycin
C38H69NO13
2.512
0.094
Surfactin
C53H93N7O13
2.518
0.093
Erythromycin
C37H67NO13
2.525
0.093
Clindamycin
C18H33ClN2O5S
2.533
0.092
Roxithromycin
C41H76N2O15
2.537
0.092
Oleandomycin
C35H61NO12
2.550
0.090
Gentamicin
C21H43N5O7
2.553
0.090
Spiramycin
C43H74N2O14
2.556
0.089
Mupirocin
C26H44O9
2.557
0.089
Lincomycin
C18H34N2O6S
2.590
0.085
Netilmicin
C21H41N5O7
2.595
0.084
Astromicin
C17H35N5O6
2.603
0.082
Tylosin
C46H77NO17
2.610
0.081
Kitasamycin
C35H59NO13
2.611
0.081
Josamycin
C42H69NO15
2.614
0.080
Telithromycin
C43H65N5O10
2.618
0.080
Telithromycin
C43H65N5O10
2.618
0.080
Verdamicin
C20H39N5O7
2.620
0.080
Midecamycin
C41H67NO15
2.629
0.078
Troleandomycin
C41H67NO15
2.629
0.078
Sisomicin
C19H37N5O7
2.647
0.074
Cethromycin
C42H59N3O10
2.649
0.073
Carbomycin A
C42H67NO16
2.667
0.069
Dibekacin
C18H37N5O8
2.676
0.067
Echinocandin B
C52H81N7O16
2.692
0.063
Rifabutin
C46H62N4O11
2.699
0.061
Arbekacin
C22H44N6O10
2.707
0.059
Rifapentine
C47H64N4O12
2.709
0.059
Herbimycin
C30H42N2O9
2.723
0.055
Tobramycin
C18H37N5O9
2.725
0.054
Grepafloxacin
C19H22FN3O3
2.750
0.047
Geldanamycin
C29H40N2O9
2.750
0.047
Rifampicin
C43H58N4O12
2.752
0.046
Sparfloxacin
C19H22F2N4O3
2.760
0.044
Balofloxacin
C20H24FN3O4
2.769
0.041
Bekanamycin
C18H37N5O10
2.771
0.040
Fleroxacin
C17H18F3N3O3
2.773
0.039
Lomefloxacin
C17H19F2N3O3
2.773
0.039
Pefloxacin
C17H20FN3O3
2.773
0.039
Isepamicin
C22H43N5O12
2.780
0.037
Paromomycin
C23H47N5O14
2.786
0.035
Quinupristin/dalfopristin
C53H67N9O10S
2.786
0.035
Moxifloxacin
C21H24FN3O4
2.792
0.033
Pristinamycin IIA
C28H35N3O7
2.794
0.032
Neomycin
C23H46N6O13
2.796
0.032
Nadifloxacin
C19H21FN2O4
2.808
0.028
Spectinomycin
C14H24N2O7
2.808
0.028
Kanamycin
C18H36N4O11
2.812
0.026
Tigecycline
C29H39N5O8
2.815
0.025
Gatifloxacin
C19H22FN3O4
2.816
0.025
Linezolid
C16H20FN3O4
2.818
0.024
Amikacin
C22H43N5O13
2.819
0.024
Meropenem
C17H25N3O5S
2.824
0.022
Sitafloxacin
C19H18ClF2N3O3
2.826
0.021
Norfloxacin
C16H18FN3O3
2.829
0.020
Pristinamycin IA
C45H54N8O10
2.855
0.011
Ciprofloxacin
C17H18FN3O3
2.857
0.010
Clinafloxacin
C17H17ClFN3O3
2.857
0.010
Eperezolid
C18H23FN4O5
2.863
0.008
Ofloxacin
C18H20FN3O4
2.870
0.006
Levofloxacin
C18H20FN3O4
2.870
0.006
Trimethoprim
C14H18N4O3
2.872
0.005
Trimethoprim
C14H18N4O3
2.872
0.005
Rolitetracycline
C27H33N3O8
2.873
0.004
Temafloxacin
C21H18F3N3O3
2.875
0.004
Hygromycin B
C20H37N3O13
2.877
0.003
Virginiamycin S1
C43H49N7O10
2.899
0.005
Enoxacin
C15H17FN4O3
2.900
0.006
Radezolid
C22H23FN6O3
2.909
0.009
Streptomycin
C21H39N7O12
2.911
0.010
Daptomycin
C72H101N17O26
2.917
0.012
Rufloxacin
C17H18FN3O3S
2.930
0.017
Minocycline
C23H27N3O7
2.933
0.018
Nimorazole
C9H14N4O3
2.933
0.019
Gemifloxacin
C18H20FN5O4
2.958
0.028
Flumequine
C14H12FNO3
2.968
0.032
Sulfadicramide
C11H14N2O3S
2.968
0.032
Imipenem
C12H17N3O4S
2.973
0.034
Piromidic acid
C14H16N4O3
2.973
0.034
Pipemidic acid
C14H17N5O3
2.974
0.034
Benzylpenicillin
C16H18N2O4S
2.976
0.035
Ampicillin
C16H19N3O4S
2.977
0.035
Nafcillin
C21H22N2O5S
2.980
0.036
Doripenem
C15H24N4O6S2
2.980
0.036
Pazufloxacin
C16H15FN2O4
3.000
0.044
Tosufloxacin
C19H15F3N4O3
3.000
0.044
Mafenide
C7H10N2O2S
3.000
0.044
Ornidazole
C7H10ClN3O3
3.000
0.044
Secnidazole
C7H11N3O3
3.000
0.044
Trovafloxacin
C20H15F3N4O3
3.022
0.052
Sulfadimidine
C12H14N4O2S
3.030
0.055
Sulfisomidine
C12H14N4O2S
3.030
0.055
Ertapenem
C22H25N3O7S
3.034
0.057
Nalidixic acid
C12H12N2O3
3.034
0.057
Tetracycline
C22H24N2O8
3.036
0.057
Chlortetracycline
C22H23ClN2O8
3.036
0.057
Doxycycline
C22H24N2O8
3.036
0.057
Lymecycline
C22H23ClN2O8
3.036
0.057
Posizolid
C21H21F2N3O7
3.037
0.058
Meticillin
C17H20N2O6S
3.043
0.060
Amoxicillin
C16H19N3O5S
3.046
0.061
Phenoxymethylpenicillin
C16H18N2O5S
3.048
0.062
Piperacillin
C23H27N5O7S
3.048
0.062
Rosoxacin
C17H14N2O3
3.056
0.064
Faropenem
C12H15NO5S
3.059
0.066
Chloramphenicol
C11H12Cl2N2O5
3.062
0.067
Cefepime
C19H24N6O5S2
3.071
0.070
Cefalexin
C16H17N3O4S
3.073
0.071
Oxytetracycline
C22H24N2O9
3.088
0.076
Azlocillin
C20H23N5O6S
3.091
0.077
Demeclocycline
C21H21ClN2O8
3.094
0.078
Sulfafurazole
C11H13N3O3S
3.097
0.079
Sulfamoxole
C11H13N3O3S
3.097
0.079
Tinidazole
C8H13N3O4S
3.103
0.081
Oxacillin
C19H19N3O5S
3.106
0.082
Cloxacillin
C19H18ClN3O5S
3.106
0.082
Dicloxacillin
C19H17Cl2N3O5S
3.106
0.082
Flucloxacillin
C19H17ClFN3O5S
3.106
0.082
Meclocycline
C22H21ClN2O8
3.111
0.084
Metacycline
C22H22N2O8
3.111
0.084
Sulfaphenazole
C15H14N4O2S
3.111
0.084
Prulifloxacin
C21H20FN3O6S
3.115
0.085
Sulfametomidine
C12H14N4O3S
3.118
0.086
Sulfaperin
C11H12N4O2S
3.133
0.090
Carbenicillin
C17H18N2O6S
3.136
0.091
Sulfapyridine
C11H11N3O2S
3.143
0.093
Metronidazole
C6H9N3O3
3.143
0.093
Torezolid
C17H15FN6O3
3.143
0.093
Prontosil
C12H13N5O2S
3.152
0.096
Cefaclor
C15H14ClN3O4S
3.158
0.098
Nocardicin A
C23H24N4O9
3.167
0.100
Sulfacetamide
C8H10N2O3S
3.167
0.100
Sulfaguanidine
C7H10N4O2S
3.167
0.100
Mezlocillin
C21H25N5O8S2
3.180
0.104
Propenidazole
C11H13N3O5
3.188
0.106
Cefpirome
C22H22N6O5S2
3.193
0.107
Sulfadimethoxine
C12H14N4O4S
3.200
0.109
Sulfaquinoxaline
C14H12N4O2S
3.212
0.112
Sulfamethoxazole
C10H11N3O3S
3.214
0.113
Sulfamazone
C23H24N6O7S2
3.226
0.115
Sulfametoxydiazine
C11H12N4O3S
3.226
0.115
Temocillin
C16H18N2O7S2
3.244
0.119
Sulfadiazine
C10H10N4O2S
3.259
0.122
Oxolinic acid
C13H11NO5
3.267
0.123
Ticarcillin
C15H16N2O6S2
3.268
0.123
Cefalotin
C16H16N2O6S2
3.286
0.126
Azanidazole
C10H10N6O2
3.286
0.126
Ceftazidime
C22H22N6O7S2
3.288
0.127
Clavulanic acid
C8H9NO5
3.304
0.129
Clavulanic acid
C8H9NO5
3.304
0.129
Sulfathiourea
C7H9N3O2S2
3.304
0.129
Cefamandole
C18H18N6O5S2
3.306
0.129
Aldesulfone
C14H16N2O6S3
3.317
0.130
Sulfamethizole
C9H10N4O2S2
3.333
0.132
Sulfathiazole
C9H9N3O2S2
3.360
0.134
Tazobactam
C10H12N4O5S
3.375
0.134
Cinoxacin
C12H10N2O5
3.379
0.134
Sulfasalazine
C18H14N4O5S
3.381
0.134
Succinylsulfathiazole
C13H13N3O5S2
3.389
0.134
Cefotaxime
C16H17N5O7S2
3.404
0.134
Cefuroxime
C16H16N4O8S
3.422
0.134
Aztreonam
C13H17N5O8S2
3.422
0.134
Phthalylsulfathiazole
C17H13N3O5S2
3.450
0.132
Ceftibuten
C15H14N4O6S2
3.463
0.131
Ceftaroline
C24H25N8O10PS4
3.472
0.130
Nifuroxazide
C12H9N3O5
3.517
0.123
Ceftriaxone
C18H18N8O7S3
3.518
0.123
Cefazolin
C14H14N8O4S3
3.535
0.120
Tigemonam
C12H15N5O9S2
3.581
0.108
Furazolidone
C8H7N3O5
3.652
0.086
Nitrofurazone
C6H6N4O4
3.700
0.068
Nifurtoinol
C9H8N4O6
3.704
0.066
Nifurzide
C12H8N4O6S
3.806
0.020
Dataset 4.Approved antibiotics screened for candidate anti-Ebola drugs.
AQVN: average quasivalence number; EIIP: electron-ion interaction potential
Previous, we determined AQVN and EIIP domains characterizing different classes of anti-HIV drugs4–9. As can be seen in Table 6, the EIIP/AQVN domain of CCR5 HIV entry inhibitors is within EVIIS, and domains of CXCR4 HIV entry inhibitors and HIV protease inhibitors partially overlaps EVIIS. The EIIP/AQVN domains of other classes of anti-HIV agents are located outside EVIIS. This indicates that some HIV entry inhibitors and HIV protease inhibitors could also be effective drugs against Ebola virus infection.
Table 5. Antibiotics selected as candidate drugs for EVD.
In conclusion, the presented results show that the EIIP/AQVN criterion can be used as an efficient filter in virtual screening of molecular libraries for candidate inhibitors of Ebola virus infection. Approved (Dataset 2) and experimental drugs (Dataset 3), anti-malarial drugs (Table 3) and antibiotics (Table 5) selected by this criterion represents a valuable source of candidate therapeutics for treatment of EVD, some of which are already approved by FDA for treatment of other diseases which can be repurposed for use in EVD. We hope that these data, obtained by an in silico drug repurposing screen, will accelerate discovery of drugs for treatment of EVD, which are necessary in this ongoing emergency situation caused by the current unprecedented Ebola virus outbreak. To enable other researchers working on online EIIP/AQVN-based screening of different sources of small molecules for candidate Ebola drugs, we established an open web server (http://www.biomedconsulting.info/ebola_screen.php).
Conceived and designed the study: VV SG NV. Developed the analysis tools: VP. Analyzed the data: VV SG NV DRB PPML BF DPC. Wrote the paper: VV DRB PPML.
Competing interests
No competing interests were disclosed.
Grant information
This work was supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia (Grant no. 173001).
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to gratefully acknowledge networking support by the COST Action CM1307.
Faculty Opinions recommended
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1
Center for Multidisciplinary Research, University of Belgrade, Institute of Nuclear Sciences VINCA, P.O. Box 522, 11001 Belgrade, Serbia 2
Antiparasitic Chemotherapy, UMR 8076 CNRS BioCIS, Faculty of Pharmacy Université Paris-Sud, Rue Jean-Baptiste Clément, F 92290- Chatenay-Malabry, France 3
Bench Electronics, Bradford Dr., Huntsville, AL, 35801, USA 4
Canadian Blood Services, Center for Innovation, 67 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 2M1, Canada
Veljkovic V, Loiseau PM, Figadere B et al. Virtual screen for repurposing approved and experimental drugs for candidate inhibitors of EBOLA virus infection [version 2; peer review: 2 approved] F1000Research 2015, 4:34 (https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.6110.2)
NOTE: it is important to ensure the information in square brackets after the title is included in all citations of this article.
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ApprovedThe paper is scientifically sound in its current form and only minor, if any, improvements are suggested
Approved with reservations
A number of small changes, sometimes more significant revisions are required to address specific details and improve the papers academic merit.
Not approvedFundamental flaws in the paper seriously undermine the findings and conclusions
Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed.
I confirm that I have read this submission and believe that I have an appropriate level of expertise to confirm that it is of an acceptable scientific standard.
To identify drug candidates against Ebola virus infections is surely an urgent need, especially in light of recent virus outbreaks registered mostly in Africa. In this respect, Velijkovic's article is presented in a timely manner and offers a fast and reliable
... Continue reading
To identify drug candidates against Ebola virus infections is surely an urgent need, especially in light of recent virus outbreaks registered mostly in Africa. In this respect, Velijkovic's article is presented in a timely manner and offers a fast and reliable opportunity to screen among large databases to reposition old drugs against Ebola.
The experimental design relies on a consolidated methodology, developed by some of the authors and successfully applied in multiple projects. Overall, the manuscript is clear and few minor editing would be necessary, in my personal opinion, to improve its consistency.
In Materials and Methods, a dataset of 152 drugs that counteract Ebola virus in vitro and in vivo has been selected as training set. However, it seems that an inconsistency does exist within this number. As authors have reported, these anti-Ebola drugs have been identified by Madrid (24 molecules) and Kouznetsova (53 molecules and 95 weaker drugs). Accordingly, the total number of FDA-approved drugs identified in these studies is 172. Why authors used a smaller set of 152? Is there any structural redundancy? A clarification of this discrepancy would improve the reproducibility of the work.
Finally, if I understood properly authors have selected more than 500 molecules (including FDA-approved and experimental drugs) as anti-Ebola candidates by means of in silico screening and suggest that further in vitro/in vivo tests should be performed on these molecules. In my opinion, this number is still too large for enabling efficient and fast in vitro and/or in vivo assays. Experimental testing of this set would require significant efforts. Just for comparison, the number of candidates selected in silico by authors is about half of those selected by Madrid by means of HTS (ref 2). Is there a way to prioritize small molecules by using the EIIP/AQVN-based approach, and to provide a lower number of compounds to be submitted to experimental evaluation? Authors should comment on this point, because the advantage of using the EIIP/AQVN-based screening in silico appears to be limited in the current version of the manuscript.
Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed.
I confirm that I have read this submission and believe that I have an appropriate level of expertise to confirm that it is of an acceptable scientific standard.
Veljko Veljkovic, Center for Multidisciplinary Research, University of Belgrade, Institute of Nuclear Sciences VINCA, P.O. Box 522, 11001 Belgrade, Serbia
13 Feb 2015
Author Response
The aim of the work was not only to reduce the number of candidate drugs for EVD but to select all approved drugs which will efficiently target GP or its
...
Continue readingThe aim of the work was not only to reduce the number of candidate drugs for EVD but to select all approved drugs which will efficiently target GP or its receptor. Further filtering of these candidate anti-Ebola drugs by other structural tools (pharmacophoric modeling, docking studies, etc.) will reduce the number of compounds for experimental testing.
The aim of the work was not only to reduce the number of candidate drugs for EVD but to select all approved drugs which will efficiently target GP or its receptor. Further filtering of these candidate anti-Ebola drugs by other structural tools (pharmacophoric modeling, docking studies, etc.) will reduce the number of compounds for experimental testing.
Competing Interests:No competing interests were disclosed.Close
Veljko Veljkovic, Center for Multidisciplinary Research, University of Belgrade, Institute of Nuclear Sciences VINCA, P.O. Box 522, 11001 Belgrade, Serbia
13 Feb 2015
Author Response
The aim of the work was not only to reduce the number of candidate drugs for EVD but to select all approved drugs which will efficiently target GP or its
...
Continue readingThe aim of the work was not only to reduce the number of candidate drugs for EVD but to select all approved drugs which will efficiently target GP or its receptor. Further filtering of these candidate anti-Ebola drugs by other structural tools (pharmacophoric modeling, docking studies, etc.) will reduce the number of compounds for experimental testing.
The aim of the work was not only to reduce the number of candidate drugs for EVD but to select all approved drugs which will efficiently target GP or its receptor. Further filtering of these candidate anti-Ebola drugs by other structural tools (pharmacophoric modeling, docking studies, etc.) will reduce the number of compounds for experimental testing.
Competing Interests:No competing interests were disclosed.Close
This manuscript deals with the in silico analysis of molecules for their activity against Ebola Virus (EBV). They started from a reference library of compounds who have previously demonstrated in vitro and/or in vivo activity against EBV and analyzed these
... Continue reading
This manuscript deals with the in silico analysis of molecules for their activity against Ebola Virus (EBV). They started from a reference library of compounds who have previously demonstrated in vitro and/or in vivo activity against EBV and analyzed these compounds by the determination of their EIIP and AQVN. With these data, they scanned a larger collection of compounds with unknown activity against EBV and selected possible candidates to test for their activity in vitro and/or in vivo. This is a straight forward manuscript however it may be better structured. The part of the M&M dealing with the EIIP and AQVN is more appropriate to go into the introduction since this is background information of the calculation. For clarity of the manuscript is also better to separate the results section as it is difficult to follow now. Start with the analysis of the compounds with known activity, the two datasets, and then proceed with results from the unknown dataset. Then in the discussion, the different products of interest may be evaluated. This will largely increase the readability. Upon the antibiotics, it would be good to elaborate a bit on how they work on EBV, since common sense tells that antibiotics do not work on viruses. A better explanation on how these products may interact and inhibit/kill EBV would also be good.
Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed.
I confirm that I have read this submission and believe that I have an appropriate level of expertise to confirm that it is of an acceptable scientific standard.
Veljko Veljkovic, Center for Multidisciplinary Research, University of Belgrade, Institute of Nuclear Sciences VINCA, P.O. Box 522, 11001 Belgrade, Serbia
13 Feb 2015
Author Response
The antibiotics presented in this article are not selected because of their antibiotic activity but they are proposed as candidate entry inhibitors of Ebola virus (drug repurposing).
Competing Interests:No competing interests were disclosed.
The antibiotics presented in this article are not selected because of their antibiotic activity but they are proposed as candidate entry inhibitors of Ebola virus (drug repurposing).
The antibiotics presented in this article are not selected because of their antibiotic activity but they are proposed as candidate entry inhibitors of Ebola virus (drug repurposing).
Competing Interests:No competing interests were disclosed.Close
Veljko Veljkovic, Center for Multidisciplinary Research, University of Belgrade, Institute of Nuclear Sciences VINCA, P.O. Box 522, 11001 Belgrade, Serbia
13 Feb 2015
Author Response
The antibiotics presented in this article are not selected because of their antibiotic activity but they are proposed as candidate entry inhibitors of Ebola virus (drug repurposing).
Competing Interests:No competing interests were disclosed.
The antibiotics presented in this article are not selected because of their antibiotic activity but they are proposed as candidate entry inhibitors of Ebola virus (drug repurposing).
The antibiotics presented in this article are not selected because of their antibiotic activity but they are proposed as candidate entry inhibitors of Ebola virus (drug repurposing).
Competing Interests:No competing interests were disclosed.Close
Alongside their report, reviewers assign a status to the article:
Approved - the paper is scientifically sound in its current form and only minor, if any, improvements are suggested
Approved with reservations -
A number of small changes, sometimes more significant revisions are required to address specific details and improve the papers academic merit.
Not approved - fundamental flaws in the paper seriously undermine the findings and conclusions
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Veljkovic V, Loiseau PM, Figadere B et al.. Dataset 1 in: Virtual screen for repurposing approved and experimental drugs for candidate inhibitors of EBOLA virus infection. F1000Research 2015, 4:34 (https://doi.org/10.5256/f1000research.6110.d42876)
Spreadsheet data files may not format correctly if your computer is using different default delimiters (symbols used to separate values into separate cells) - a spreadsheet created in one region is sometimes misinterpreted by computers in other regions. You can change the regional settings on your computer so that the spreadsheet can be interpreted correctly.
How to fix it
Save downloaded CSV file
Open spreadsheet program (e.g. Excel)
Click the ‘Data’ tab at the top
Click the ‘From text’ icon (top left)
Browse for downloaded CSV file, click ‘Import’
Ensure ‘Delimited’ radio button is selected, click ‘Next’
Check one of the appropriate delimiter checkboxes (you can visualize the formatting by looking at the data preview below these options)
Veljkovic V, Loiseau PM, Figadere B et al.. Dataset 2 in: Virtual screen for repurposing approved and experimental drugs for candidate inhibitors of EBOLA virus infection. F1000Research 2015, 4:34 (https://doi.org/10.5256/f1000research.6110.d42877)
Spreadsheet data files may not format correctly if your computer is using different default delimiters (symbols used to separate values into separate cells) - a spreadsheet created in one region is sometimes misinterpreted by computers in other regions. You can change the regional settings on your computer so that the spreadsheet can be interpreted correctly.
How to fix it
Save downloaded CSV file
Open spreadsheet program (e.g. Excel)
Click the ‘Data’ tab at the top
Click the ‘From text’ icon (top left)
Browse for downloaded CSV file, click ‘Import’
Ensure ‘Delimited’ radio button is selected, click ‘Next’
Check one of the appropriate delimiter checkboxes (you can visualize the formatting by looking at the data preview below these options)
Veljkovic V, Loiseau PM, Figadere B et al.. Dataset 3 in: Virtual screen for repurposing approved and experimental drugs for candidate inhibitors of EBOLA virus infection. F1000Research 2015, 4:34 (https://doi.org/10.5256/f1000research.6110.d42878)
Spreadsheet data files may not format correctly if your computer is using different default delimiters (symbols used to separate values into separate cells) - a spreadsheet created in one region is sometimes misinterpreted by computers in other regions. You can change the regional settings on your computer so that the spreadsheet can be interpreted correctly.
How to fix it
Save downloaded CSV file
Open spreadsheet program (e.g. Excel)
Click the ‘Data’ tab at the top
Click the ‘From text’ icon (top left)
Browse for downloaded CSV file, click ‘Import’
Ensure ‘Delimited’ radio button is selected, click ‘Next’
Check one of the appropriate delimiter checkboxes (you can visualize the formatting by looking at the data preview below these options)
Veljkovic V, Loiseau PM, Figadere B et al.. Dataset 4 in: Virtual screen for repurposing approved and experimental drugs for candidate inhibitors of EBOLA virus infection. F1000Research 2015, 4:34 (https://doi.org/10.5256/f1000research.6110.d42879)
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