We are very proud of the work our all-volunteer teams have produced. Below find some highlights:

Getting Started With Our Group

1. Drug Responses in Plexiform Neurofibroma Type I (PNF1) Cell Lines Using High-Throughput Data and Combined Effectiveness and Potency

Link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38136356/

Downloadable File: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6694/15/24/5811/pdf?version=1702528450

Companion Poster: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EVQII4YWIuu-S5CUzai7M3m5tnI3Aeow/view?usp=sharing

Summary

• This paper outlines the need for additional drugs for Plexiform Neurofiromatosis 1

• This paper establishes the development of a score characterizing the effect of a compound on a single cell line, S = log[EFF/AC50], and (b) a relative score, ΔS, characterizing the relative difference between a reference (e.g., non-tumor) and test (tumor) cell line. 

• ΔS was applied to data from high-throughput screening (HTS) of a drug panel tested on NF1-/- tumor cells, using immortalized non-tumor NF1+/- cells as a reference.

•  We identified drugs with sensitivity, targeting expected pathways, such as MAPK-ERK and PI3K-AKT, as well as serotonin-related targets, among others. The ΔS technique used here, in tandem with a supplemental ΔS web tool, simplifies HTS analysis and may provide a springboard for further investigations into drug response in NF1-related cancers. The tool may also prove useful for drug development in a variety of other cancers.

2. Prioritizing Combinational Drug Screening: A Ranking System for In Vitro Drug Combinations in Neurofibromatosis Type 1
   Manuscript in Preparation 2025 doi:https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.08.02.667047
   Kangyi Zhou, Syeda Shehzad, Zaynab Ahmed, Olivia Zhao, Carolina Sapriza, Matthew Zamora, Ulisses Santamaria, Paul Zamora

3. S Prime: A Python Module for Quantitative High-Throughput Screening Data in Preclinical Drug Discovery Studies.
   Manuscript in Preparation 2026. doi:https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9559152/v1
   Zamora, M.E.; Sopylo, P.; Muchow, M.R.; McKinley-Pace, N.D.; Branson, D.W.; Santamaria, U.; Zamora, P.O. 

4. Introducing S′ as a Potency–Efficacy Index for High Throughput Drug Viability Screening; Reframing Drug Response as Net Regulatory Balance.
   Manuscript in Preparation 2026. doi:https://dx.doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9559070/v1
   Matthew E. Zamora, Michael R. Muchow, Ishani Ray, Nathan D. McKinley-Pace, Eugene D. Kaplan, Donald W. Branson, Ulisses Santamaria, Paul O. Zamora

5. Use of S’ Indices to Evaluate Synthetic Lethality as a Systems Phenomenon in Lung Cancer Cells: From Gene Pairs to Network Fragility
   Manuscript in Preparation 2026. DOI Pending, draft available upon request
   Paul O. Zamora, Donald W. Branson, Emine Gulcin Oymak, Ishani Ray, Hassan Almosapeeh, Ulisses Santamaria, Michael R. Muchow, Chuba Oraka, Nathan D. McKinley-Pace, Jeong Hoon Shin, and Matthew E. Zamora