DeCure's autonomous Respiratory AI scientist is researching a drug-repurposing hypothesis for pulmonary alveolar proteinosis — screening already-approved drugs against its 3-gene Open Targets disease module to publish open-access research. Research is fast; the path to publication is funded in milestone stages.
Disease modulePulmonary alveolar proteinosis maps to a 3-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 pulmonary alveolar proteinosis 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
surfactant protein C (SFTPC) — SFTPC 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 apo structuredrag to rotate · scroll to zoom
RCSB Protein Data Bank · entry 2YAD · 2.2 Å · ligand none (apo structure). Experimental structure, not a prediction.
What the evidence adds up to
A 30-year-old male sugar cane plantation worker with progressively worsening dyspnoea and non-productive cough for one year was diagnosed with pulmonary alveolar proteinosis. He had prior recurrent respiratory infections. Physical exam showed cyanosis and bilateral coarse and fine rales. Chest computed tomography revealed a diffuse crazy paving pattern. Bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage yielded foamy, thick whitish material; cytology showed lymphocytes and acellular proteinaceous eosinophilic material. Transbronchial biopsy confirmed the diagnosis. The patient met criteria for whole lung lavage and responded favourably to this therapy. In a separate case, a young male patient was diagnosed with alveolar proteinosis by computed tomography, bronchoscopy and transbronchial biopsy, with a characteristic histopathologic aspect; he was discharged in good health and remained asymptomatic.
Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis is a rare, diffuse interstitial lung disease characterised by alveolar obstruction due to accumulation of pulmonary surfactant. It can lead to major respiratory dysfunction. Three clinically and aetiologically distinct forms are recognised: congenital, secondary and idiopathic, with idiopathic accounting for 90% of cases. The two case reports describe patients who were diagnosed and treated, but neither abstract provides data on sample sizes beyond single patients, nor reports survival rates, response rates, or any controlled comparison of treatments.
No drug therapy is mentioned in any of these abstracts. The only treatment described is whole lung lavage, to which one patient responded favourably. The second case report notes the patient remained asymptomatic after diagnosis and discharge, but does not specify whether lavage was performed. No information is given on long-term outcomes, relapse rates, or the natural history of untreated disease.
What is still missing are prospective studies with adequate sample sizes, standardised outcome measures, and controlled comparisons of whole lung lavage versus no treatment or alternative interventions. No data exist from these abstracts on patient stratification by disease form (congenital, secondary, idiopathic) or severity. Funding for multicentre registries or randomised trials in this rare disease remains absent.
Evidence
Retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works and resolved on OpenAlex — ranked by citations, including the results that did not work.
European Respiratory Journal · 2009 · 105 citations
Rituximab therapy in autoimmune pulmonary alveolar proteinosis
AbstractIdiopathic pulmonary alveolar proteinosis is presumed to be an autoimmune disorder that may lead to pulmonary insufficiency. However, steroids do not appear to be effective and the standard of therapy is whole-lung lavage. We report the first case of successful therapy with rituximab, which addresses the pathogenic mechanism of pulmonary alveolar proteinosis.
AbstractINTRODUCTION: Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis is a rare, diffuse interstitial lung disease, characterized by alveolar obstruction due to the accumulation of pulmonary surfactant. CLINICAL PRESENTATION: A 30-year-old male with progressively worsening dyspnea and non-productive cough for one year. He was a sugar cane plantation worker and had prior recurrent respiratory infections. Physical exam revealed cyanosis, and bilateral coarse and fine rales. Chest computed tomography showed diffuse crazy paving pattern. Bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage yielded a foamy, thick whitish material. Cytology revealed lymphocytes and acellular proteinaceous eosinophilic material. Transbronchial biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of pulmonary alveolar proteinosis. Patient met criteria for whole lung lavage, responding favorably to this therapy. CONCLUSION: Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis is a rare lung disease and important to consider due to the diagnostic and therapeutic challenge it represents.
Dimensions of Critical Care Nursing · 2005 · 1 citations
A Case of Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis Treated With Whole Lung Lavage
AbstractIn Brief Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis is rarely seen and, thus, many critical care nurses may not be familiar with the disease. This article provides information about the epidemiology, pathophysiology, and a case study of a patient with this disease. The authors present a case study of a patient with pulmonary alveolar proteinosis, a condition that can lead to major respiratory dysfunction. The article includes a brief description of this disorder.
Jornal Brasileiro de Patologia e Medicina Laboratorial · 2012 · 1 citations · open access
Characteristic aspects of alveolar proteinosis diagnosis
AbstractAlveolar proteinosis is an uncommon pulmonary disease characterized by an accumulation of surfactant in terminal airway and alveoli, thereby impairing gas exchange and engendering respiratory insufficiency in some cases. Three clinically and etiologically distinct forms of pulmonary alveolar proteinosis are recognized: congenital, secondary and idiopathic, the latter corresponding to 90% of the cases. In this case report we present a young male patient that was diagnosed with alveolar proteinosis. Computed tomography of the thorax, bronchoscopy and transbronchial biopsy were performed. The histopathologic aspect was characteristic. The patient was discharged in good health conditions and remains asymptomatic to date.
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.
