March 25, 2020
RIKEN
Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science
Shiga University of Medical Science
Central Institute for Experimental Animals
Keio University
National Institutes of Biomedical Innovation, Health and Nutrition
Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development
A joint research group led by Jun Kawai, Deputy Program Director of the RIKEN Program for Drug Discovery and Medical Technology Platforms, has released D3G (Database for Drug Development based on Genome and RNA), an integrated omics database containing genomic, gene model, and gene expression information for the primates human, cynomolgus monkey, and common marmoset.
Use of this database will facilitate the selection of effective nucleotide sequences, evaluation of efficacy, and prediction and interpretation of safety in drug discovery research for nucleic acid drugs. This is expected to greatly advance the work of researchers (in academia and industry) involved in drug discovery and lead to new innovations in the field.
Nucleic acid drugs, such as antisense and siRNA drugs, are highly species-specific, so evaluation using non-human primates, which have a high degree of genetic similarity to humans, is considered useful. However, the available genetic information for non-human primates has been limited and not systematically organized, creating a bottleneck in drug discovery.
The joint research group has now constructed a high-quality, comprehensive dataset by analyzing the genomic DNA and RNA of the cynomolgus monkey and common marmoset—non-human primate models used in drug discovery research—using proprietary technologies. This dataset includes whole-genome DNA sequences, gene models, and gene expression information for all tissues targeted in toxicity studies. It has been compiled into the D3G database, along with tools and procedures for searching nucleotide sequences.
An alpha version of this database (with limited data content) has been widely used by the relevant communities (organizations and groups for research and drug discovery) since the summer of 2019. Now, the official version, featuring the latest data content, will be made publicly available on March 25, 2020, at D3G | Database for drug development based on genome & RNA sequences - Genomics database for nucleic acid drugs .
The data from this database is also included in the "GGGenome Package (Drug Discovery Pack)" (Retrieva, Inc.), a high-speed nucleotide sequence search software that enables on-premise operation.
For the full press release, please see below.