The BioChemical Library (BCL) cheminformatics toolkit is an application-based academic open-source software package designed to integrate traditional small molecule cheminformatics tools with machine learning-based quantitative structure-activity/property relationship (QSAR/QSPR) modeling. In this pedagogical article we provide a detailed introduction to core BCL cheminformatics functionality, showing how traditional tasks (e.g., computing chemical properties, estimating druglikeness) can be readily combined with machine learning. In addition, we have included multiple examples covering areas of advanced use, such as reaction-based library design. We anticipate that this manuscript will be a valuable resource for researchers in computer-aided drug discovery looking to integrate modular cheminformatics and machine learning tools into their pipelines.

The BioChemical Library (BCL) is an academic open-source cheminformatics toolkit comprising ligand-based virtual high-throughput screening (vHTS) tools such as quantitative structure–activity/property relationship (QSAR/QSPR) modeling, small molecule flexible alignment, small molecule conformer generation, and more. Here, we expand the capabilities of the BCL to include structure-based virtual screening. We introduce two new score functions, BCL-AffinityNet and BCL-DockANNScore, based on novel distance-dependent signed protein–ligand atomic property correlations. Both metrics are conventional feed-forward dropout neural networks trained on the new descriptors. We demonstrate that BCL-AffinityNet is one of the top performing score functions on the comparative assessment of score functions 2016 affinity prediction and affinity ranking tasks. We also demonstrate that BCL-AffinityNet performs well on the CSAR-NRC HiQ I and II test sets. Furthermore, we demonstrate that BCL-DockANNScore is competitive with multiple state-of-the-art methods on the docking power and screening power tasks. Finally, we show how our models can be decomposed into human-interpretable pharmacophore maps to aid in hit/lead optimization. Altogether, our results expand the utility of the BCL for structure-based scoring to aid small molecule discovery and design. BCL-AffinityNet, BCL-DockANNScore, and the pharmacophore mapping application, as well as the remainder of the BCL cheminformatics toolkit, are freely available with an academic license at the BCL Commons site hosted on .

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This letter describes a ligand-based virtual screening campaign utilizing SAR data around the M5 NAMs, ML375 and VU6000181. Both QSAR and Shape scores were employed to virtually screen a 98,000-member compound library. Neither approach alone proved productive, but a consensus score of the two models identified a novel scaffold which proved to be a modestly selective, but weak inhibitor (VU0549108) of the M5 mAChR (M5 IC50 = 6.2 μM, M1-4 IC50s >10 μM) based on an unusual 8-((1,3,5-trimethyl-1H-pyrazol-4-yl)sulfonyl)-1-oxa-4-thia-8-azaspiro[4,5]decane scaffold. [3H]-NMS binding studies showed that VU0549108 interacts with the orthosteric site (Ki of 2.7 μM), but it is not clear if this is negative cooperativity or orthosteric binding. Interestingly, analogs synthesized around VU0549108 proved weak, and SAR was very steep. However, this campaign validated the approach and warranted further expansion to identify additional novel chemotypes.

Fragment-based drug discovery begins with the identification of small molecules with a molecular weight of usually less than 250 Da which weakly bind to the protein of interest. This technique is challenging for computational docking methods as binding is determined by only a few specific interactions. Inaccuracies in the energy function or slight deviations in the docking pose can lead to the prediction of incorrect binding or difficulties in ranking fragments in in silico screening. Here, we test RosettaLigand by docking a series of fragments to a cysteine-depleted variant of the TIMbarrel protein, HisF (UniProtKB Q9X0C6). We compare the computational results with experimental NMR spectroscopy screens. NMR spectroscopy gives details on binding affinities of individual ligands, which allows assessment of the ligand-ranking ability using RosettaLigand and also provides feedback on the location of the binding pocket, which serves as a reliable test of RosettaLigand's ability to identify plausible binding poses. From a library screen of 3456 fragments, we identified a set of 31 ligands with intrinsic affinities to HisF with dissociation constants as low as 400 μM. The same library of fragments was blindly screened in silico. RosettaLigand was able to rank binders before non-binders with an area under the curve of the receiver operating characteristics of 0.74. The docking poses observed for binders agreed with the binding pocket identified by NMR chemical shift perturbations for all fragments. Taken together, these results provide a baseline performance of RosettaLigand in a fragment-based drug discovery setting.