Multi-Omic Integration for Graph-Based Drug Repurposing

Development of high-throughput experimental techniques such as Next Generation Sequencing and antibody-based protein microarrays has resulted in volumes of data describing different aspects of cellular biology. In order to minimize experimental noise and gain a deeper understanding of molecular phenotypes, it is pertinent to integrate data of different types and from different sources using multi-omic approaches. When the phenotypes in question relate to cellular dysregulations and disorders (e.g., human diseases), the resulting multi-omic models, such as graphs of functionally associated proteins, can be used to investigate mechanisms of repair or functional restoration of the underlying diseases - drug development.

One aspect of multi-omics-based drug development with huge uncovered therapeutic potential is drug repurposing. This is an important way to maximize the time, economic resources, and efforts used in taking a new compound to market by investigating its therapeutic potential for other diseases. It is also a way to speed up the process of finding new therapeutic avenues in extraordinary medical situations such as the current COVID-19 pandemic.

In this Research Topic we aim at collecting the latest research describing, applying, and advancing the use of multi-omic integration techniques and resulting graphs or networks of associations with the goal of drug repurposing. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic we also welcome contributions focused on graph-based drug repurposing of COVID-19 related treatments.

Areas covered in this Research Topic may include, but are not limited to:
• New methods of graph- or network-based drug repurposing
• Novel applications of existing graph- or network-based techniques for drug repurposing
• Multi-omics integration for complex diseases
• Models utilizing omics data for drug repurposing
• Connection of omics layers to facilitate drug repurposing
• Construction of graphs or networks for drug repurposing
• Integration of databases for drug repurposing
• Novel multi-omic resources for drugs and diseases

Topic Editor Dimitri Guala holds a position at Merck AB. All other Topic Editors declare no competing interests with regard to the Research Topic subject.