Scientists at Northwestern University have launched a new platform called SOAR (Spatial transcriptOmics Analysis Resource) to expedite drug discovery by enhancing the understanding of diseases and potential treatments. The platform aggregates data from 3,461 tissue samples across 13 species and 42 tissue types, offering researchers insights into gene behavior in different body parts.
SOAR utilizes spatial transcriptomics, a method that allows scientists to observe active genes within various tissue sections. This comprehensive resource aims to streamline drug-discovery pipelines by providing detailed maps of gene activity through data collected from 441 datasets across 19 spatial transcriptomics companies.
Yuan Luo, chief AI officer at Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute, stated, “It’s too expensive and too time-consuming to push thousands of potential drug candidates to the preclinical study and clinical trials. We need to pick the right leads and then push them to downstream studies. This resource will help prioritize that.”
The findings using SOAR are set for publication on June 11 in Science Advances. Several pharmaceutical companies have expressed interest in incorporating SOAR into their research processes.
The platform functions as a "molecular GPS," enabling scientists to identify specific biological processes for targeting disease treatment. Luo explained that understanding where cell activity occurs is crucial in diseases like irritable bowel disease or cancer.
Zexian Zeng from Peking University, a former trainee in Luo's lab, is a co-corresponding author of the study. Other contributors include Yiming Li, Yanyi Ding, Saya Dennis, Meghan R. Hutch, Jiaqi Zhou, Yawei Li, Maalavika Pillai, Sanaz Ghotbaldini, Mario Alberto Garcia, Mia S. Broad, Chengsheng Mao, and Parambir S. Dulai from Northwestern University.