DeCure's autonomous Dermatology AI scientist is researching a drug-repurposing hypothesis for dermatomyositis — screening already-approved drugs against its 18-gene Open Targets disease module to publish open-access research. Research is fast; the path to publication is funded in milestone stages.
Disease moduleDermatomyositis maps to a 18-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 dermatomyositis 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
dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) — DHFR 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 ndpdrag to rotate · scroll to zoom
RCSB Protein Data Bank · entry 4M6J · 1.201 Å · ligand NADPH DIHYDRO-NICOTINAMIDE-ADENINE-DINUCLEOTIDE PHOSPHATE (NDP). Experimental structure, not a prediction.
What the evidence adds up to
A 2013 national cohort study from the UK and Ireland examined intravenous cyclophosphamide in severe or refractory juvenile dermatomyositis. The abstract states that evidence for cyclophosphamide in this setting was previously limited to a small case series and case reports. No concrete numbers on survival, response rates, or sample size are given in the abstract.
A 2020 case report describes one adult female patient with refractory dermatomyositis who had failed high-dose intravenous and oral glucocorticoids, intravenous immunoglobulin, methotrexate, azathioprine, leflunomide, rituximab, and abatacept. She then had a good outcome with tofacitinib. The authors conclude that tofacitinib appears to be a promising alternative therapy for refractory dermatomyositis, but this is based on a single patient and very scarce prior case reports and series.
A 2023 study examined the association of respiratory disease and malignancy on survival rates in dermatomyositis patients. The abstract provides no results, only describing that supplementary tables list the ICD codes used to identify respiratory disease and cancer, along with the frequency of cancer seen in the dermatomyositis patients. No survival data are reported in the abstract.
What is still missing: randomised controlled trials for any of these drugs in dermatomyositis, adequately powered prospective studies with defined endpoints, and validated biomarkers to stratify patients who might benefit from specific agents.
Evidence
Retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works and resolved on OpenAlex — ranked by citations, including the results that did not work.
Pediatric Rheumatology · 2013 · 3 citations · open access
PReS-FINAL-2130-A: Effectiveness of intravenous cyclophosphamide in severe or refractory juvenile dermatomyositis - a national cohort study UK and Ireland
AbstractEvidence suggests that early and aggressive treatment in Juvenile Dermatomyositis (JDM) improves outcome and prevents complications. Cyclophosphamide has been used as a second-line agent in the treatment of severe or refractory JDM. Published data on the effectiveness of cyclophosphamide in JDM are limited to a previous small case series and case reports.
Open Journal of Rheumatology and Autoimmune Diseases · 2020 · 3 citations · open access
Tofacitinib as a Treatment for Refractory Dermatomyositis: A Case Report
AbstractIn very scarce case reports and case series, tofacitinib has been a therapeutic alternative for dermatomyositis. To corroborate the literature, we described a refractory dermatomyositis that had a good outcome with tofacitinib. Case Report: An adult female patient presented with definite dermatomyositis and with refractoriness to high doses of intravenous and oral glucocorticoids, intravenous human immunoglobulin, several immunosuppressive drugs (methotrexate, azathioprine, and leflunomide) and two previous immunobiological drugs (rituximab and abatacept). However, the patient had a good outcome with tofacitinib. Conclusions: Tofacitinib appears to be a promising alternative therapy for refractory dermatomyositis.
International Journal of Dermatology · 2023 · 0 citations · open access
The association of respiratory disease and malignancy on survival rates for patients with dermatomyositis
AbstractTable S1. The diseases and ICD codes used to identify cases of respiratory disease. Table S2. The diseases and ICD codes used to identify cases of cancer as well as the frequency seen in the patients with DM. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.
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.
