Browsing by Author "Harris, Raymond C."

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Human and Machine Intelligence Together Drive Drug Repurposing in Rare Diseases
    (Frontiers Media, 2021-07-28) Challa, Anup P.; Zaleski, Nicole M.; Jerome, Rebecca N.; Lavieri, Robert R.; Shirey-Rice, Jana K.; Barnado, April; Lindsell, Christopher J.; Aronoff, David M.; Crofford, Leslie J.; Harris, Raymond C.; Ikizler, T. Alp; Mayer, Ingrid A.; Holroyd, Kenneth J.; Pulley, Jill M.; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Repurposing is an increasingly attractive method within the field of drug development for its efficiency at identifying new therapeutic opportunities among approved drugs at greatly reduced cost and time of more traditional methods. Repurposing has generated significant interest in the realm of rare disease treatment as an innovative strategy for finding ways to manage these complex conditions. The selection of which agents should be tested in which conditions is currently informed by both human and machine discovery, yet the appropriate balance between these approaches, including the role of artificial intelligence (AI), remains a significant topic of discussion in drug discovery for rare diseases and other conditions. Our drug repurposing team at Vanderbilt University Medical Center synergizes machine learning techniques like phenome-wide association study-a powerful regression method for generating hypotheses about new indications for an approved drug-with the knowledge and creativity of scientific, legal, and clinical domain experts. While our computational approaches generate drug repurposing hits with a high probability of success in a clinical trial, human knowledge remains essential for the hypothesis creation, interpretation, "go-no go" decisions with which machines continue to struggle. Here, we reflect on our experience synergizing AI and human knowledge toward realizable patient outcomes, providing case studies from our portfolio that inform how we balance human knowledge and machine intelligence for drug repurposing in rare disease.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Pathological and Transcriptome Changes in the ReninAAV db/db uNx Model of Advanced Diabetic Kidney Disease Exhibit Features of Human Disease
    (Sage, 2018-12) Harlan, Shannon M.; Heinz-Taheny, Kathleen M.; Overstreet, Jessica M.; Breyer, Matthew D.; Harris, Raymond C.; Heuer, Josef G.; Medicine, School of Medicine
    The ReninAAV db/db uNx model of diabetic kidney disease (DKD) exhibits hallmarks of advanced human disease, including progressive elevations in albuminuria and serum creatinine, loss of glomerular filtration rate, and pathological changes. Microarray analysis of renal transcriptome changes were more similar to human DKD when compared to db/db eNOS−/− model. The model responds to treatment with arterial pressure lowering (lisinopril) or glycemic control (rosiglitazone) at early stages of disease. We hypothesized the ReninAAV db/db uNx model with advanced disease would have residual disease after treatment with lisinopril, rosiglitazone, or combination of both. To test this, ReninAAV db/db uNx mice with advanced disease were treated with lisinopril, rosiglitazone, or combination of both for 10 weeks. All treatment groups showed significant lowering of urinary albumin to creatinine ratio compared to baseline; however, only combination group exhibited lowering of serum creatinine. Treatment improved renal pathological scores compared to baseline values with residual disease evident in all treatment groups when compared to db/m controls. Gene expression analysis by TaqMan supported pathological changes with increased fibrotic and inflammatory markers. The results further validate this model of DKD in which residual disease is present when treated with agents to lower arterial pressure and glycemic control.