DIA-DB: A database and web server for the prediction of diabetes drugs

Abstract

The DIA-DB is a web server for the prediction of diabetes drugs that uses two different and complementary approaches; a) comparison by shape similarity against a curated database of approved anti-diabetic drugs and experimental small molecules, and b) inverse virtual screening of the input molecules chosen by the users against a set of therapeutic protein targets identified as key elements in diabetes. As a proof of concept DIA-DB was successfully applied in an integral workflow for the identification of the anti-diabetic chemical profile in a complex crude plant extract. To this end, we conducted the extraction and LC-MS based chemical profile analysis of Sclerocarya birrea, and subsequently utilized this data as input for our server. The server is open to all users, registration is not necessary, and a detailed report with the results of the prediction is sent to the user by E-mail once calculations are completed. This is a novel public domain database and web server specific for diabetes drugs and can be accessed online through http://bio-hpc.eu/software/dia-db/.