Using artificial intelligence (AI), scientists from Nagoya University have obtained a substance that may be the best medicine to suppress stomach acid production. The research was published in the journal Communication Biology.
Stomach acid is necessary for digestion, but in some cases it can damage the esophagus and stomach lining and lead to heartburn or ulcers. Drugs that suppress acid production (proton pump inhibitors) can cope with this.
In the new study, scientists focused on the spatial structure of a protein called the gastric proton pump, which transports H+ protons to produce hydrochloric acid HCl in the stomach. Its structure was analyzed using Deep Quartet, an artificial intelligence-driven drug discovery platform.
Artificial intelligence has helped develop new compounds with unique chemical structures. Scientists synthesized the substances and visualized their interaction with the proton pump using cryoelectron microscopy. New substances bind better to stomach protein, meaning they block its functioning more effectively.
Compound DQ-06 showed the greatest potential. Using cryoelectron microscopy data, the scientists found that replacing this substance with an additional chlorine atom could further strengthen binding to the proton pump. They produced this derivative (called DQ-18) in the laboratory and confirmed that it bound to protein 10 times stronger than existing reference substances.
Previously AI taught To determine the presence of plaques in blood vessels using an ECG.