Minimal information for Chemosensitivity assays (MICHA): A next-generation pipeline to enable the FAIRification of drug screening experiments.

ABSTRACT: Chemosensitivity assays are commonly used for preclinical drug discovery and clinical trial optimization. However, data from independent assays are often discordant, largely attributed to uncharacterized variation in the experimental materials and protocols. Spurred by the annotation of minimum information (MI) for ensuring data reproducibility, we report here the launching of MICHA (Minimal Information for Chemosensitivity Assays), accessed via https://micha-protocol.org . Distinguished from existing MI efforts that are often lack of support from data integration tools, MICHA can automatically extract publicly available information to facilitate the assay annotation including: 1) compounds, 2) samples, 3) reagents, and 4) data processing methods. For example, MICHA provides an integrative web server and database to obtain compound annotation including chemical structures, targets and disease indications. In addition, the annotation of cell line samples, assay protocols and literature references can be greatly eased by retrieving manually curated catalogues. Once the annotation is complete, MICHA can export a report that conforms to the FAIR principle (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) of drug screening studies. To consolidate the utility of MICHA, we provide FAIRified protocols from several major cancer drug screening studies, as well as recently conducted COVID-19 studies. With the integrative webserver and database, we envisage a wider adoption of the MICHA strategy to foster a community-driven effort to improve the open access of drug sensitivity assays.

SUBMITTER: Tanoli Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7724669 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature