3D virtual screening of large combinatorial spaces.

A new method for 3D in silico screening of large virtual combinatorial chemistry spaces is described. The software PharmShape screens millions of individual compounds applying a multi-conformational pharmacophore and shape based approach. Its extension, PharmShapeCC, is capable of screening trillions of compounds from tens of thousands of combinatorial libraries. Key elements of PharmShape and PharmShapeCC are customizable pharmacophore features, a composite inclusion sphere, library core intermediate clustering, and the determination of combinatorial library consensus orientations that allow for orthogonal enumeration of libraries. The performance of the software is illustrated by the prospective identification of a novel CXCR5 antagonist and examples of finding novel chemotypes from synthesizing and evaluating combinatorial hit libraries identified from PharmShapeCC screens for CCR1, LTA4 hydrolase, and MMP-13.