DeCure's autonomous Immuno AI scientist is researching a drug-repurposing hypothesis for ankylosing spondylitis — screening already-approved drugs against its 44-gene Open Targets disease module to publish open-access research. Research is fast; the path to publication is funded in milestone stages.
Disease moduleAnkylosing spondylitis maps to a 44-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 ankylosing spondylitis 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
fascin actin-bundling protein 1 (FSCN1) — FSCN1 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 3,4-dichlorophenyldrag to rotate · scroll to zoom
RCSB Protein Data Bank · entry 6I18 · 1.49 Å · ligand 5-[(3,4-dichlorophenyl)methyl]-4-oxidanylidene-1-piperidin-4-yl-~{N}-pyridin-4-yl-pyrazolo[4,3-c]pyridine-7-carboxamide (H0N). Experimental structure, not a prediction.
What the evidence adds up to
Ankylosing spondylitis is a chronic inflammatory rheumatic disease primarily affecting the spine and sacroiliac joints. In Turkey its prevalence has been reported as 0.49%. Symptoms appear before age 30 in 80% of cases. Quality of life is reduced and the risk of disability and mortality is increased. Direct and indirect economic losses are similar to those of rheumatoid arthritis in the long term. Pharmacological treatment options have been limited, though the introduction of biological drugs has led to remarkable improvements. Treatment targets include control of symptoms and inflammation, preservation of physical function, prevention of structural damage and disability, and maximising long-term health-related quality of life.
Nonpharmacological treatment comprises patient training and regular exercise. Personal home exercising and training, compared to no such intervention, leads to significant improvement in some spinal mobility parameters such as finger tips-to-floor distance, but has no effect on disease activity, pain, stiffness, or global patient evaluation. Group physiotherapy programs with a supervisor compared to personal home exercise programs show no differences in pain, stiffness, or function, though some spinal mobility parameters such as Schober’s distance and patient global assessment may improve.
Despite major advances in diagnosis and management over the past decade, no current treatments have been shown to lead to disease remission or to halt the progression of bony ankylosis that causes major morbidity. Improved diagnostic methods and management have led to major benefits for patients, with marked improvements in quality of life and reduced treatment-associated side effects. The role of HLA-B27 in pathogenesis is discussed in the context of its higher expression in patients compared with healthy controls, but this does not translate into a therapeutic target in the abstracts provided.
What is still missing is evidence that any pharmacological or nonpharmacological intervention can induce remission or prevent structural progression. No trial design or patient stratification strategy is described that addresses these endpoints.
Evidence
Retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works and resolved on OpenAlex — ranked by citations, including the results that did not work.
TURKISH JOURNAL OF MEDICAL SCIENCES · 2015 · 37 citations · open access
Treatment of ankylosing spondylitis
AbstractAnkylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic, inflammatory, rheumatic disease involving primarily the spine and sacroiliac joints.It is a prototype of spondyloarthritis (SpA) group diseases and its prevalence in Turkey has been reported as 0.49% (1).It is encountered in mostly young adults and in 80% of the cases symptoms appear before 30 years of age (2).Studies have revealed that the quality of life is reduced and the risk of disability and mortality is increased in patients with AS (3,4).It has been reported that the direct (due to health expenses) and indirect (as a result of workforce loss) economic losses associated with the disease are similar to those of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in the long term (5).Management of AS consists of pharmacological and nonpharmacological treatment modalities (6-11).The pharmacological treatment options are limited; however, with the recent introduction of biological drugs, remarkable improvements have been reported in this field.In general, the treatment targets include control of symptoms and inflammation (pain, stiffness, and joint swelling), preservation/normalization of physical function, prevention of progressive structural damage and disabilities, and eventually maximizing the longterm health-related quality of life (6,11).The aim of this review article is to present an updated overview of the pharmacologic treatment of AS, as defined by the modified New York criteria (Table 1) (12).Nonpharmacological treatment modalities including physiotherapy and exercise are only briefly mentioned and surgical treatment is not discussed. Nonpharmacological treatment approaches: physiotherapy and exerciseThe nonpharmacological treatment for AS comprises patient training and regular exercise.Pharmacological treatment and nonpharmacological treatment approaches complement each other.Physiotherapy and exercise for the treatment of AS are also cost-effective (13).A recent Cochrane article summarized the available scientific evidence on the effectiveness of physiotherapy interventions in the management of AS ( 14).Personal home exercising and training, when compared to AS patients without such interventions, lead to significant improvement in some spinal mobility parameters (finger tips-to-floor distance); however, they have no effect on disease activity, pain, stiffness, and global patient evaluation (14).Studies comparing group physiotherapy programs applied with a supervisor with personal home exercise programs showed that there were no differences among groups in regard to pain, stiffness, and function; however, some spinal mobility parameters (Schober's distance) and patient global Abstract: Ankylosing spondylitis is a chronic, inflammatory, rheumatic disease that can reduce the quality of life and increase the risk of disability and mortality.It also causes direct and indirect economic losses due to health expenses and as a result of workforce loss.Management of this disease consists of pharmacological and nonpharmacological modalities.Until recently, pharmacological treatment options have been very limited.However, development of novel biological drugs revolutionized the management of this disease.The aim of this review article is to present an updated overview of the pharmacologic treatment of ankylosing spondylitis.Nonpharmacological treatment modalities including physiotherapy and exercise are only briefly mentioned and surgical treatment is not discussed.
The Medical Journal of Australia · 2017 · 13 citations · open access
New approaches in ankylosing spondylitis
AbstractThere have been marked improvements in treatment options but none have yet been shown to induce remission T he past decade has seen major advances in the diagnosis and management of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and in research into its pathogenesis. It remains the case that no current treatments have been shown to lead to disease remissions or to halt the progression of the bony ankylosis that causes the major morbidity associated with this condition. Nonetheless, improved diagnostic methods and management have led to major benefits for patients, with marked improvements in quality of life with reduced treatment-associated side effects.
The role of HLA-B27 molecules in the pathogenesis of ankylosing spondylitis
AbstractAnkylosing Spondylitis (AS) is characterised by the strongest association with an HLA antigen ever described for any disease. It represents therefore the ideal model for the understanding of the link between immune-mediated diseases and the HLA system. The role of HLA-B27 in the pathogenesis of AS will be discussed focusing on the recently described higher expression of these molecules in patients with AS compared with healthy controls.
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.
