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2544: KCNT1 Round 1

Closed since about 1 year ago

Intermediate Overall Small Molecule Design

Summary


Created
December 06, 2024
Expires
Max points
100
Description

KCNT1 is a sodium-activated potassium channel that critically influences how neurons fire. When functioning normally, KCNT1 helps maintain a healthy balance of electrical signaling in the brain. However, mutations in the KCNT1 gene can lead to a range of severe epileptic conditions such as Malignant Migrating Partial Seizures of Infancy (MMPSI).

Designing inhibitors that can precisely modulate KCNT1’s activity may offer pathways to managing or even alleviating some resulting debilitating conditions. In this puzzle series, you’ll start with a candidate molecule nestled into a KCNT1 binding pocket. Your goal is to create a potential therapeutic lead. By applying your intuition and problem-solving skills here, you could help lay the groundwork for novel treatments targeting severe pediatric epilepsies and related neurological disorders.

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Comments


Sciren Staff Lv 1

Objectives

Maximum bonus: +8000

Compound Library (max +1000)
Gives a bonus if your current compound is in the library. This uses a local cached version of the Compound Library search results to determine if the compound is in the library. If you manually create a compound that happens to be in the library (or if you load a shared solution with an on-library compound), you may need to submit the compound to the compound library search and wait to get the results back before the objective can properly recognize that the compound is in the library. (If the objective is not updating, try wiggling the structure. See this forum post for more discussion.)

Torsion Quality (max +1000)
Keeps bond rotations in a good range. Using Wiggle or Tweak Ligand can fix bad torsions. (Show highlights torsions to be rotated.)

Number of Rotatable Bonds (max +1000)
Intended to keep the ligand from getting too big and floppy. You can reduce rotatable bonds by deleting groups or forming rings. (Show highlights rotatable bonds.)

Ligand TPSA (max +1000)
Topological Polar Surface Area - Keeps the polar surface area (including buried polar surface) low. To improve, try removing oxygens and nitrogens. (Show highlights atoms contributing to higher TPSA.)

Ligand cLogP (max +1000)
A measure of polarity - Keeps the molecule from getting too hydrophobic. To improve, try adding polar oxygens and nitrogens. (Show highlights atoms contributing to higher cLogP.)

Bad Groups (max +1000)
Gives a bonus for avoiding groups that interfere with assays, which are far from the compounds in the library, or which otherwise have issues. (Show highlights groups at issue.)

Molecular Weight (max +1000)
Keeps the ligand within a reasonable size limit.

Synthetic Accessibility (max +1000)
Keeps the ligand from going too far from the compounds in the library. (Show highlights parts of the molecule at issue.)