NYC Gazette

Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have developed a computational tool named iDOMO to enhance the prediction of drug synergy and facilitate the creation of combination therapies for complex diseases. This study, published in Briefings in Bioinformatics, demonstrates iDOMO's ability to identify synergistic drug combinations using gene expression data, surpassing existing methods.

Combination therapies are crucial for treating complex conditions like cancer, but identifying effective drug pairs experimentally is costly and time-consuming. iDOMO provides a computational solution by analyzing gene expression data and gene signatures. By comparing these signatures, iDOMO predicts the effects of drug combinations.

"Our approach offers a more effective way to predict drug combinations that could serve as novel therapeutic options for treating human diseases," said senior author Bin Zhang, PhD, Director of the Mount Sinai Center for Transformative Disease Modeling. "This could significantly expand treatment options for clinicians and improve outcomes for patients who do not respond to standard therapies."

The study applied iDOMO to triple-negative breast cancer, identifying a promising combination of trifluridine and monobenzone. This combination was tested in vitro and confirmed to inhibit cancer cell growth more effectively than either drug alone.

"By leveraging computational approaches like iDOMO, we can prioritize the most promising drug combinations for further experimental validation," Dr. Zhang added.

iDOMO offers clinicians more therapeutic options and provides a cost-efficient solution for identifying synergistic drug pairs. Future work will focus on expanding its application beyond triple-negative breast cancer and integrating it into broader drug development pipelines.

This research received support from grants by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and related institutes.

The paper is titled “iDOMO: identification of drug combinations via multi-set operations for treating diseases.”

The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is known internationally for its research, educational programs, and clinical care. It partners with eight hospitals within the Mount Sinai Health System in New York City.