DeCure's autonomous Rare AI scientist is researching a drug-repurposing hypothesis for adrenocortical adenoma — screening already-approved drugs against its 47-gene Open Targets disease module to publish open-access research. Research is fast; the path to publication is funded in milestone stages.
Disease moduleAdrenocortical adenoma maps to a 47-gene Open Targets module — the target space DeCure's AI scientist screens approved drugs against.
DeCure.ai methodSignature reversal (LINCS) plus network proximity (STRING) rank already-approved drugs likely to perturb this module — the same engine that produces DeCure.ai's repurposing hypotheses.
Repurposing thesisScreening approved medicines against this disease module, then publishing the evidence for the strongest candidate. Known pharmacology and human exposure data make the first question sharper — they do not establish safety or efficacy in a new indication.
Research record
01
ResearchComing soon
Candidate research + dossier — target rationale, drug-repurposing thesis and evidence pack.proof: Published dossier + on-chain hash
02
ValidationComing soon
In-vitro biological validation at a contract research org (CRO).proof: CRO contract + in-vitro report
03
Peer review & paperComing soon
Peer-reviewed paper published open-access (preprint + journal).proof: DOI + open-access link + on-chain hash
Current lead
No approved-drug candidate for adrenocortical adenoma is corroborated in the literature DeepSearch retrieved. Some conditions are managed with non-pharmacological care — a device, surgery or physical therapy — rather than a medicine; that may be the case here, or the literature we found may simply be too sparse yet to support a drug-repurposing angle.
Molecular view
protein kinase cAMP-dependent type I regulatory subunit alpha (PRKAR1A) — PRKAR1A is one of the genes genetically linked to this disease in Open Targets — shown as context, not as a drug target we're pursuing: no approved-drug candidate for this disease is yet corroborated in the literature we found.
Loading structure…
helix sheet pcgdrag to rotate · scroll to zoom
RCSB Protein Data Bank · entry 5KJZ · 1.347 Å · ligand CYCLIC GUANOSINE MONOPHOSPHATE (PCG). Experimental structure, not a prediction.
What the evidence adds up to
In a 1998 case report, a cortisol-secreting adrenal adenoma causing Cushing’s syndrome was found to aberrantly express interleukin-1 receptors. The authors provided evidence of immune cell involvement and cytokine products in the formation of that single adenoma. No other patients were studied, and no therapeutic intervention was tested.
A 2016 review describes adrenocortical adenoma as the most common adrenal tumour, frequently found incidentally on cross-sectional imaging. The review covers imaging features on CT, MRI, and PET/CT, compares sensitivities of different modalities for adenoma characterisation, and lists differential diagnoses. It does not report any treatment data or patient outcomes.
A 1971 case report describes a patient with a metastatic adrenocortical carcinoma that responded to ACTH and was suppressible by dexamethasone, mimicking adrenocortical hyperplasia. Eight months after nephroadrenalectomy for an adrenocortical “adenoma” with Cushing’s syndrome, the patient developed metastatic disease. This single case shows that some adrenocortical neoplasms can be ACTH-dependent, contrary to the then-prevailing view. No treatment efficacy data are given beyond the physiological response to dexamethasone.
What is still missing: prospective trials testing any drug in adrenocortical adenoma, validated biomarkers to predict which adenomas will behave aggressively, and funding for multi-centre studies that stratify patients by receptor expression or imaging phenotype.
Evidence
Retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works and resolved on OpenAlex — ranked by citations, including the results that did not work.
New England Journal of Medicine · 1998 · 106 citations · open access
Aberrant Interleukin-1 Receptors in a Cortisol-Secreting Adrenal Adenoma Causing Cushing's Syndrome
AbstractCortisol-secreting adrenal adenomas are an uncommon cause of Cushing's syndrome. Little is known about the events leading to the formation of these tumors, but molecular defects, including activating mutations of receptors for corticotropic factors, have been suspected in this process. Structural mutations of the corticotropin-receptor gene have not been detected in these tumors,1 but some have had gastric inhibitory polypeptide,2,3 vasopressin,4 and more recently, β-adrenergic receptors.5 In this report, we provide evidence of the involvement of immune cells and one of their cytokine products in the formation of an adrenocortical adenoma in a patient with Cushing's syndrome. A striking . . .
British Journal of Radiology · 2016 · 65 citations · open access
Adrenal imaging for adenoma characterization: imaging features, diagnostic accuracies and differential diagnoses
AbstractAdrenocortical adenoma is the most common adrenal tumour. This lesion is frequently encountered on cross-sectional imaging that has been performed for unrelated reasons. Adrenal adenoma manifests various imaging features on CT, MRI and positron emission tomography/CT. The learning objectives of this review are to describe the imaging findings of adrenocortical adenoma, to compare the sensitivities of different imaging modalities for adenoma characterization and to introduce differential diagnoses.
AbstractADRENOCORTICAL neoplasms are not thought to be adrenocorticotrophin (ACTH) dependent since they fail to show suppression of 17-hydroxycorticosteroids (17-OHCS) with the administration of 8 mg of dexamethasone per 24 hours.1 Recently, Kendall and Sloop2 described a patient with an adrenocortical adenoma in whom 2 mg of dexamethasone per 24 hours suppressed urinary 17-OHCS excretion from 18 to 3.5 mg per 24 hours. The following report describes a patient with a metastatic adrenocortical carcinoma that physiologically mimicked adrenocortical hyperplasia.Case ReportEight months after right nephroadrenalectomy for adrenocortical "adenoma" with Cushing's syndrome a 70-year-old woman was admitted to the Clinical Center . . .
Disease module: DeepOracle (Open Targets). Structures: RDKit from PubChem SMILES. Literature: retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works (targeted per-candidate search), resolved on OpenAlex.
DeCure is a research and publication project, not medical advice and not a treatment. "DeCure for X" describes a research goal, not a claim that a cure exists. Backing a cure is a contribution to fund the research — it is not an investment, and confers no yield, royalty, equity or IP ownership. Papers are published open-access by the DeCure.ai DAO.
