DeCure for Combined oxidative phosphorylation deficiency 48
DeCure's autonomous Rare AI scientist is researching a drug-repurposing hypothesis for combined oxidative phosphorylation deficiency 48 — screening already-approved drugs against its 1-gene Open Targets disease module to publish open-access research. Research is fast; the path to publication is funded in milestone stages.
Disease moduleCombined oxidative phosphorylation deficiency 48 maps to a 1-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 combined oxidative phosphorylation deficiency 48 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.
What the evidence adds up to
The first abstract, from 1948, describes how 2:4-dinitrophenol (DNP) reversibly uncouples phosphorylation from oxidation in glutamate metabolism. This prevents the formation of high-energy phosphate bonds and accelerates respiration and glycolysis in intact cells. The paper is a biochemical mechanism study, not a clinical trial, and does not address any disease.
A 2001 study examined 33 muscle biopsies from patients with genetically defined mitochondrial encephalomyopathies, including single and multiple deletions and point mutations A3243G and A8344G of mitochondrial DNA. The authors looked for evidence of apoptosis using TUNEL staining, antibodies against Fas and Bcl-2, and ultrastructural examination of 18 biopsies. They found no significant expression of pro- or anti-apoptotic proteins, no TUNEL positivity, and no morphological evidence of apoptosis in any fibre examined. The conclusion is that genetically determined defects of oxidative phosphorylation do not induce apoptosis, and that apoptosis is not involved in the pathogenesis of these mitochondrial disorders.
A 2021 study profiled 85 endometrial carcinomas from a single Japanese centre, classifying them by TCGA subgroups. Copy-number-high tumours reflected TP53 inactivation, and TP53-inactive tumours, whether or not they carried TP53 mutations, had poor prognosis. Gene expression analysis showed activation of oxidative phosphorylation in these TP53-inactive tumours. The authors suggest that PI3K/mTOR and autophagy pathways are potential drug targets, but they did not test any drug in this study. No survival or response rates are reported.
What is missing for combined oxidative phosphorylation deficiency 48 specifically: no abstract mentions this disease by name. There are no clinical trials, no patient data, no tested compounds, and no animal models for this condition in the provided texts. The 2001 study on mitochondrial encephalomyopathies explicitly found no apoptosis in oxidative phosphorylation defects, which may be relevant to pathogenesis but does not point to a treatment. The 2021 endometrial cancer study identifies oxidative phosphorylation activation as a poor-prognosis feature in a different disease context, not a target for deficiency. No funding, trial design, or patient stratification for COXPD48 exists in these abstracts.
Evidence
Retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works and resolved on OpenAlex — ranked by citations, including the results that did not work.
Biochemical Journal · 1951 · 120 citations · open access
The inhibition of oxidative phosphorylation
AbstractLoomis & Lipmann (1948) showed that low concen- trations of 2:4-dinitrophenol (DNP) reversibly un- couple the phosphorylation associated with the oxidation of glutamate. This supported the hypo- thesis that agents such as DNP, which prevent the use of the energy provided by respiration and glycolysis, do so by inhibiting the formation of high- energy phosphate bonds (Lardy & Elvehjem, 1945; McElroy, 1947). The acceleration of respiration and glycolysis of intact cells by low concentrations of DNP (see Meyerhof & Geliazkowa, 1947). Johnson (1941) has suggested that the Pasteur effect is a consequence of the greater efficiency of aerobic phosphorylation compared with that associated with glycolysis, a view which is consistent with the inhibition of the Pasteur effect by DNP (Dodds & Greville, 1934). Lynen (1941) has indeed shown that respiration reduces the amount of orthophosphate available for yeast fermentation.
Lack of apoptosis in mitochondrial encephalomyopathies
AbstractBACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, is an evolutionary conserved mechanism essential for morphogenesis and tissue homeostasis, but it plays an important role also in pathologic conditions, including neurologic disorders. Its execution pathway is critically regulated at the mitochondrial level. Evidence of apoptosis in muscle specimens was investigated in patients with genetically defined mitochondrial encephalomyopathies. METHODS: Thirty-three muscle biopsies from patients with genotypically different mitochondrial diseases (single and multiple deletions, A3243G/A8344G point mutations of the mitochondrial DNA) were studied. The terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) reaction was used as a marker of nuclear DNA fragmentation, as well as antibodies against pro- (Fas) or anti- (Bcl-2) apoptotic factors. Also, because one hallmark of apoptosis is morphologic, ultrastructural studies were performed on skeletal muscle from 18 of 33 patients, examining both phenotypically normal and ragged red fibers. RESULTS: In all muscle biopsies, no significant expression of either pro (Fas) and inhibiting (Bcl-2) apoptosis-related proteins was found, nor TUNEL positivity. This latter finding is confirmed by lack of morphologic evidence of apoptosis in all the fibers examined at the ultrastructural level. CONCLUSION: The authors' findings suggest that genetically determined defects of oxidative phosphorylation do not induce the apoptotic process and that apoptosis is not involved in the pathogenesis of mitochondrial disorders.
International Journal of Gynecological Cancer · 2021 · 9 citations · open access
Activation of oxidative phosphorylation in TP53-inactive endometrial carcinomas with a poor prognosis
Abstract<h3>Objective</h3> We aimed to identify pathways for potential therapeutic targets by conducting molecular profiling of endometrial carcinomas in patients with poor prognosis. <h3>Methods</h3> The classification of endometrial carcinomas has undergone a paradigm shift with the advent of next generation sequencing based molecular profiling. Although this emerging classification reflects poor prognosis in patients with endometrial carcinoma, knowledge of affected biological pathways is still lacking. In this study, 85 patients with endometrial carcinomas at the Shizuoka Cancer Center were evaluated from January 2014 to March 2019 and classified based on The Cancer Genome Atlas subgroups. The accumulation of germline and somatic mutations was determined using next generation sequencing. Gene expression profiling was used to determine the effect of TP53 inactivation on the recurrence of endometrial carcinoma. Additionally, the biological pathways associated with TP53 inactivation were estimated by pathway analysis based on gene expression. <h3>Results</h3> Based on The Cancer Genome Atlas classification, the ratio of polymerase-epsilon to copy number-high subgroups and the frequency of <i>PTEN</i> and <i>TP53</i> mutations differed in patients, and mutations of <i>ARHGAP35</i> observed in normal endometrium were accumulated in the polymerase-epsilon and microsatellite instability subgroups. We revealed that copy number-high reflects TP53 inactivation in endometrial carcinomas, and that TP53-inactive tumors with or without <i>TP53</i> mutations have poor prognosis. Furthermore, overexpression of aurora kinase A and activation of oxidative phosphorylation were found in TP53-inactivated endometrial carcinomas, suggesting that the PI3K/mTOR and autophagy pathways are potential drug targets. <h3>Conclusion</h3> Our analysis revealed a relationship between pathways involved in oxidative phosphorylation and poor prognosis and provides insight into potential drug targets.
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.
