Overview of ASCEND by BenchSci Platform

Target due diligence

What is the general role of my target in a disease area?

Conversational AI: Use a broad, conversational query (e.g., “Summarize the role of NLRP3 in metabolic diseases.”).

What is the experimental evidence linking my specific target to my disease?

Navigator: Perform a single-entity search for your target and explore the disease-linked evidence network.

Which of these potential targets is the most promising to pursue?

Target Assessment: Input up to 5 targets and a disease for a deep, structured comparison of causality, pathway, and safety data.

What pathways is my target involved in, especially in the context of my disease?

Navigator: Use Multi-Target Analysis (MTA) to screen large lists of targets to discover which ones are connected to specific pathways based on evidence from the scientific literature. For a direct, visual exploration, MTA-embedded KEGG-powered pathway maps show precisely where your specific target functions.

Conversational AI: For a quick, summarized answer, you can ask your question directly to CAI. It will provide a concise response detailing the known pathways your target is involved in within the context of the disease, along with the supporting literature.

What tissues express my target of interest?

Conversational AI: Surface data from both published literature and the Human Protein Atlas.

Navigator: Use the “Tissue” entity filter for a comprehensive network of all tissues connected to a target.

What are some clinical therapies in development for specific targets associated with a disease?

Target Assessment: Input up to 5 targets and peruse the clinical trials (under Causality Data) associated with these targets.

Conversational AI: Simply enter a query similar to this example: "Show me clinical trials associated with [target] in [disease].”

What PK/PD modeling approaches help characterize drug-target binding kinetics?

Conversational AI: Ask about different PK/PD modeling approaches to surface relevant insights and supporting evidence from its extensive database of publications. You can also refine your query to look for information in specific contexts, like in vivo or in vitro experiments, or within certain publication years.

Target identification

I need to prioritize a long list of potential targets.

Navigator: Use the Multi-Target Analysis (MTA) feature to quickly triage up to 1,000 targets based on the volume of evidence in a specific, filter-defined context.

Risk due diligence

What are the safety issues associated with the disruption of my target?

Defender: View the Risk Pane in Navigator for literature- and 3rd party-derived risks.

Conversational AI: For a more exploratory, conversational approach, you can ask CAI your question directly.

Target Assessment: Leverage the "Safety Data" in the TA assistant for genetic variants linked to adverse effects.

Experimental strategy

How do I perform an immunofluorescence experiment for this protein in this cell line?"

Architect: Use the "Experiment Search" to query by Technique: "Immunofluorescence", Target: "[Your Protein]", and Cell Line: "[Your Cell Line]".

I need a reliable antibody for a western blot on human samples.

Selector: Search for your target, then filter by Western blot (application) and Human (organism) to find products ranked by published evidence.

What model shall I use to study my disease of interest?

Conversational AI: For a more direct and summarized answer, you can use CAI. Simply ask a question like, "What are the common in vivo and in vitro models used to study [your disease name]?" CAI will process your request and provide a consolidated summary with links to the supporting evidence from the literature.

Selector: Once you have identified a potential model system (e.g., a specific mouse strain or cell line) using CAI, you can use Selector to find and evaluate commercially available versions. Selector allows you to search across various vendors, compare products, and review supporting data to choose the best-validated model for your experiments.

Translational due diligence

What are the known or candidate biomarkers for this disease?

Navigator: Search for the disease and apply the dedicated "Biomarker" filters to see data from the literature and 3rd party sources.

Conversational AI: Enter specific queries, such as, “What are the emerging genetic biomarkers for early detection of IBD?” or “What biomarkers are used to assess the pathways affected by Infliximab?”

I want to understand quantitative pharmacokinetic parameters for my target of interest

Conversational AI: Enter specific queries, such as, “What is the incidence of ADA formation in response to [drug]?” or “What is the turnover rate of [target]?”