DeCure's autonomous AMR AI scientist is researching a drug-repurposing hypothesis for Mumps virus infectious disease — 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 moduleMumps virus infectious disease 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 mumps virus infectious disease 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
A 1967 report described the development of a live, attenuated mumps-virus vaccine, the Jeryl Lynn strain, level B, intended to prevent a disease that can cause permanent damage to the brain, testis, ovary, auditory nerves, or pancreas, and can sterilise adult males. By 2020, mumps had re-emerged in the United States, with outbreaks occurring in vaccinated young adults. Laboratory work from that year identified that the host kinase RPS6KB1 negatively regulates mumps virus replication, likely through an interaction with the viral P protein, offering a potential target for novel antiviral drugs.
Earlier studies established basic virology. In 1958, mumps virus was isolated from saliva, cerebrospinal fluid, and urine using tissue-culture techniques; virus was recovered from urine as long as 13 days after illness onset. In 1949, mice injected intraperitoneally or intranasally with mumps virus showed virus in lungs, liver, spleen, and brain within an hour, but the virus did not persist. Testes, pancreas, heart muscle, and blood contained no virus at any time, and the mice did not exhibit symptoms of toxicity comparable to those seen with influenza virus.
A 2017 review on drug repurposing for cytomegalovirus noted that drug screening has raised hope but also uncertainties about whether repurposing is a practical approach for infectious diseases. That review did not study mumps virus.
What is still missing is a dedicated clinical trial testing any repurposed drug against mumps virus in humans, funding for such a trial, and a clear stratification of patients by vaccination status or immune response. The identified kinase target has not been translated into a licensed antiviral.
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 · 1967 · 112 citations
Live, Attenuated Mumps-Virus Vaccine
AbstractMUMPS is a common childhood disease that may be severely and even permanently crippling when it involves the brain, testis, ovary, auditory nerves or pancreas. Adult males may be permanently sterilized by mumps. The personal discomfort and time loss from productive effort resulting from ordinary mumps and the serious or even fatal aspect of the extraordinary case appear to justify development and application of a safe and effective live-virus vaccine.A first report in the present series describes the development by Buynak and Hilleman1 of a live, attenuated mumps-virus vaccine referred to as the Jeryl Lynn strain, level B. Early . . .
Journal of Virology · 2020 · 6 citations · open access
Regulation of Mumps Virus Replication and Transcription by Kinase RPS6KB1
AbstractMumps virus is an important human pathogen. In recent years, MuV has reemerged in the United State, with outbreaks occurring in young adults who have been vaccinated. Our work provides insight into a previously unknown mumps virus-host interaction. RPS6KB1 negatively regulates MuV replication, likely through its interaction with the P protein. Understanding virus-host interactions can lead to novel antiviral drugs and enhanced vaccine production.
Clinical and Laboratory Studies of Mumps. I. Laboratory Diagnosis by Tissue-Culture Technics
AbstractThe use of tissue-culture technics in primary isolation of virus from patients with mumps and its complications is reported. In addition to recovery from saliva, the virus was repeatedly isolated from cerebrospinal fluid and urine. From the latter source, virus was recovered as long as 13 days from onset of illness. The virus was propagated in both monkey-kidney and HeLa-cell cultures.
Is Drug Repurposing the Answer for Cytomegalovirus Treatment Or Prevention?
AbstractMedical progress has placed cytomegalovirus (CMV) as one of the most important viral pathogens for which treatment is limited and a vaccine is not yet available. The limited treatment options for CMV triggered efforts to discover new antivirals. Drug screening raised hope but also uncertainties as to whether drug repurposing may be a practical approach for infectious diseases in general and CMV in particular. I summarize here several of such agents as well as an approach to advance repurposing for CMV therapy.
Experimental Biology and Medicine · 1949 · 0 citations
Detection of Mumps Virus in Mice Sacrificed at Different Periods of Time after Injection
AbstractMumps virus administered to mice intraperitoneally or intranasally appears within an hour in the lungs, liver, spleen, and to a lesser extent in the brain (in the latter case after intraperitoneal injection only.) Sojourn of viable virus in organs where found is short. Testes, pancreas, heart muscle, and blood were found not to contain virus at any time. Mice used in these tests of mumps virus did not exhibit symptoms of toxicity at all comparable to mice injected at different times in the past with influenza virus, although these 2 viruses are somewhat similar otherwise.
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.
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