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The kinds of small molecules representing many of our medicines are rarely found in nature, so they haven't evolved to carry out a specific task, said Sanju Sinha, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Cancer Metabolism and Microenvironment Program at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute. Taking a more holistic view reveals that small molecules can have different targets and effects depending on the disease and cell type, and we can use this knowledge to repurpose more drugs to treat more patients." In collaboration with the lab of co-corresponding author Ani Deshpande, Ph.D., a professor in the Cancer Genome and Epigenetics Program at Sanford Burnham Prebys, the scientists tested DeepTarget's prediction that Ibrutinib was killing lung cancer cells by acting on a secondary target protein called epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). The cells harboring the mutant form were more sensitive to the drug, validating EGFR as a target of Ibrutinib."