Discovering Dengue Drugs – Together
Encyclopedia
Discovering Dengue Drugs – Together (DDDT) is a World Community Grid
project sponsored by scientists at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and the University of Chicago
. Its goal is to identify new antiviral drugs effective against viruses from the family flaviviridae
. The specific targets are:
Discovering Dengue Drugs – Together is divided into two phases. Phase 1, launched August 21, 2007, used AutoDock
2007 (the same software used for FightAIDS@Home
) to test how well antiviral drug candidates are predicted to bind to the target virus's protease
s. Compounds predicted to bind strongly (protease inhibitors
) are potential antiviral drug candidates. This phase ended in August 2009.
Phase 2 "will use a more computationally intensive program to screen the candidates that make it through Phase 1." The drug candidates that make it through Phase 2 will then be lab-tested.
Like all World Community Grid projects, Discovering Dengue Drugs – Together uses a computational grid
made up of thousands of client (computing)
computers belonging to independent volunteers
, in conjunction with servers that distribute portions of the work to the client
s.
In 2008, the project was temporarily suspended because of Hurricane Ike
. Processing resumed in January 2009, with the server function transferred from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston to the Texas Advanced Computing Center
in Austin.
World Community Grid
World Community Grid is an effort to create the world's largest public computing grid to tackle scientific research projects that benefit humanity...
project sponsored by scientists at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
. Its goal is to identify new antiviral drugs effective against viruses from the family flaviviridae
Flaviviridae
The Flaviviridae are a family of viruses that are primarily spread through arthropod vectors . The family gets its name from Yellow Fever virus, a type virus of Flaviviridae; flavus means yellow in Latin...
. The specific targets are:
- Dengue virusDengue virusDengue virus in one of four serotypes is the cause of dengue fever. It is a mosquito-borne single positive-stranded RNA virus of the family Flaviviridae; genus Flavivirus...
- Hepatitis C virusHepatitis C virusHepatitis C virus is a small , enveloped, positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus of the family Flaviviridae...
- West Nile virusWest Nile virusWest Nile virus is a virus of the family Flaviviridae. Part of the Japanese encephalitis antigenic complex of viruses, it is found in both tropical and temperate regions. It mainly infects birds, but is known to infect humans, horses, dogs, cats, bats, chipmunks, skunks, squirrels, domestic...
- Yellow fever virus
Discovering Dengue Drugs – Together is divided into two phases. Phase 1, launched August 21, 2007, used AutoDock
AutoDock
AutoDock is a molecular modeling simulation software. Since 2009, it has been open source and is free for non-commercial usage. It is especially effective for Protein-ligand docking.-About:...
2007 (the same software used for FightAIDS@Home
FightAIDS@Home
FightAIDS@Home is a distributed computing project for internet-connected home computers, operated by the Olson Laboratory at The Scripps Research Institute...
) to test how well antiviral drug candidates are predicted to bind to the target virus's protease
Protease
A protease is any enzyme that conducts proteolysis, that is, begins protein catabolism by hydrolysis of the peptide bonds that link amino acids together in the polypeptide chain forming the protein....
s. Compounds predicted to bind strongly (protease inhibitors
Protease inhibitor (pharmacology)
Protease inhibitors are a class of drugs used to treat or prevent infection by viruses, including HIV and Hepatitis C. PIs prevent viral replication by inhibiting the activity of proteases, e.g.HIV-1 protease, enzymes used by the viruses to cleave nascent proteins for final assembly of new...
) are potential antiviral drug candidates. This phase ended in August 2009.
Phase 2 "will use a more computationally intensive program to screen the candidates that make it through Phase 1." The drug candidates that make it through Phase 2 will then be lab-tested.
Like all World Community Grid projects, Discovering Dengue Drugs – Together uses a computational grid
Distributed computing
Distributed computing is a field of computer science that studies distributed systems. A distributed system consists of multiple autonomous computers that communicate through a computer network. The computers interact with each other in order to achieve a common goal...
made up of thousands of client (computing)
Client (computing)
A client is an application or system that accesses a service made available by a server. The server is often on another computer system, in which case the client accesses the service by way of a network....
computers belonging to independent volunteers
Volunteer computing
Volunteer computing is a type of distributed computing in which computer owners donate their computing resources to one or more "projects".-History:...
, in conjunction with servers that distribute portions of the work to the client
Client (computing)
A client is an application or system that accesses a service made available by a server. The server is often on another computer system, in which case the client accesses the service by way of a network....
s.
In 2008, the project was temporarily suspended because of Hurricane Ike
Hurricane Ike
Hurricane Ike was the second-costliest hurricane ever to make landfall in the United States, the costliest hurricane ever to impact Cuba and the second most active hurricane to reach the Canadian mainland in the Great Lakes Region after Hurricane Hazel in 1954...
. Processing resumed in January 2009, with the server function transferred from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston to the Texas Advanced Computing Center
Texas Advanced Computing Center
The Texas Advanced Computing Center at the University of Texas at Austin, United States, is a research center for advanced computational science, engineering and technology. TACC is located on UT's J.J. Pickle Research Campus....
in Austin.
External links
- Discovering Dengue Drug-Together : Project Summary
- World Community Grid - Research - Discovering Dengue Drugs - Together
- World Community Grid launches global computing effort to find cures for dengue, West Nile, and hepatitis C diseases
- UTMB and IBM enlist aid of global computer grid to find cures for dengue, West Nile and hepatitis C diseases
- Launch of Discovering Dengue Drugs - Together Project