MoA Finder

In collaboration with the bioinformatics firm 4HF Biotec GmbH, a bioinformatics firm specializing in cancer data mining to discover new anti-cancer drugs, we offer data mining for identification or confirmation of the mode of action of a customer's compound.

The MoA Finder tool aims to identify the mode of action (MoA) of your test compound based on the results obtained in the ProLiFilerTM cell panel screening. To this end, we compare the sensitivity profile of your drug candidate to more than 900+ drugs for which the MoA is known.

Goals of the MoA Finder Tool:

  • Discerning potential off-targets and side effects.
  • New indications can be found for an established drug.
  • The identification of compounds with similar MoA gives suggestions for target deconvolution in a phenotypic approach.

How it Works

Watch our 5-minute video to understand the value of our ProLiFilerTM - Cell Panel Screen and subsequent bioinformatic analysis service for the identification of biomarkers and the mode of action of your drug candidate. 

Additional Information

MoA Finder details

Primary data set: We will perform the ProLiFilerTM assay for testing the anti-proliferative effects of your drug on a set of 140 human tumor cell lines for IC50 determination, also called the 'sensitivity profile' of your compound.

Database: Our collaborator 4HF Biotec has built a comprehensive database, including proprietary and literature data of the 'sensitivity profile' of more than 900+ anti-cancer compounds integrated into a single platform for visualization and statistical analysis.

Analysis: Scientists from the 4HF Biotec team will compare the sensitivity profile of your drug to hundreds of reference drugs with known modes of action. The correlation of the two sensitivity profiles is evaluated by the Spearman Rho correlation value and its p-value. Watch the above video for more information.

Deliverables: The report comprises a graphical presentation of the correlation analysis and all raw data. 4HF Biotec scientists are available to walk you through the analysis, data, and results, focusing on answering your key questions.

Study example

study example doxorubicin mechanism of action analysis

Example of doxorubicin in the MoA Finder analysis. Shown is a graphical presentation of the correlation of the drug sensitivity profile of doxorubicin to 732 reference drug sensitivity profiles. Each dot represents one correlation. The dots' size is related to the number of cell lines used to define the reference drug's sensitivity profile. A positive correlation of doxorubicin and the drug is blue; a negative correlation is shown in red. Those reference drugs with a Spearman Rho correlation higher than 0.7 are named.

doxorubicin MOA Finder example

The top 10 hits for the MoA Finder performed with doxorubicin are presented in a table. Of the 9 hits next to doxorubicin are 8 inhibitors of DNA replication and cell-cycle regulation. Teniposide and etoposide are both topoisomerase II inhibitors confirming the MoA of our tool compound doxorubicin which is also a topoisomerase II inhibitor.