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2617: KCNT2 Round 2

Closed since 9 months ago

Intermediate Overall Small Molecule Design

Summary


Created
May 29, 2025
Expires
Max points
100
Description

KCNT2 is a sodium‑activated potassium channel that helps neurons reset after firing, keeping brain activity in check. Mutations in the KCNT2 gene can disrupt this balance and are linked to severe developmental and epileptic encephalopathies (DEE) and related seizure disorders.

Designing small‑molecule inhibitors that finely tune KCNT2 activity could open new paths to managing these conditions. In this puzzle, you’ll begin with a starter compound already docked in a KCNT2 binding pocket. Refine and reshape it into a stronger, more selective lead. Your intuition and problem‑solving skills could pave the way for future therapies targeting pediatric epilepsy and other neurological disorders.

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Comments


Sciren Staff Lv 1

Objectives

Maximum bonus: +10000

Compound Library (max +2000)
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.)

N-N and N-O bonds (max +1000)
Gives a bonus for avoiding molecules containing nitrogen-nitrogen (N–N) or nitrogen-oxygen (N–O) bonds (both aromatic and aliphatic). By reducing these bonds, you will be able to create more chemically realistic molecules, encouraging exploration of novel molecular designs favored by medicinal chemists.(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.)

Sciren Staff Lv 1

Hi @"Bruno Kestemont", the starting compounds used in this series are being selected from an initial screening done by collaborators in the Meiler Lab. Some of them may fall short of the criteria that we look for in our Small Molecule puzzles because they were evaluated under different methodologies. The hope is that we can use a variety of these to explore different areas of the chemical landscape, and indeed promote as much creativity as possible.