Which metabolic biomarkers can distinguish therapeutic response from disease progression in neurodegeneration trials?¶
Notebook ID: nb-SDA-2026-04-04-SDA-2026-04-04-gap-debate-20260403-222618-c698b06a · Analysis: SDA-2026-04-04-SDA-2026-04-04-gap-debate-20260403-222618-c698b06a · Generated: 2026-04-21T18:41:59
Research question¶
Which metabolic biomarkers can distinguish therapeutic response from disease progression in neurodegeneration trials?
Approach¶
This notebook is generated programmatically from real Forge tool calls and SciDEX debate data. Forge tools used: PubMed Search, MyGene, STRING PPI, Reactome pathways, Enrichr.
Debate Summary¶
Quality score: 0.77 · Rounds: 4
1. Target gene annotations (MyGene)¶
import pandas as pd
ann_rows = [{'gene': 'LDHA', 'name': 'lactate dehydrogenase A', 'summary': 'This gene encodes the A subunit of lactate dehydrogenase enzyme which catalyzes the reversible conversion of pyruvate to'}, {'gene': 'TFAM', 'name': 'transcription factor A, mitochondrial', 'summary': 'This gene encodes a key mitochondrial transcription factor containing two high mobility group motifs. The encoded protei'}, {'gene': 'TREM2', 'name': 'triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2', 'summary': 'This gene encodes a membrane protein that forms a receptor signaling complex with the TYRO protein tyrosine kinase bindi'}]
pd.DataFrame(ann_rows)
| gene | name | summary | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | LDHA | lactate dehydrogenase A | This gene encodes the A subunit of lactate deh... |
| 1 | TFAM | transcription factor A, mitochondrial | This gene encodes a key mitochondrial transcri... |
| 2 | TREM2 | triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 | This gene encodes a membrane protein that form... |
2. GO Biological Process enrichment (Enrichr)¶
go_bp = [{'rank': 1, 'term': 'Chemokine (C-X-C Motif) Ligand 12 Signaling Pathway (GO:0038146)', 'p_value': 0.0007498314718703743, 'odds_ratio': 2499.125, 'genes': ['TREM2']}, {'rank': 2, 'term': 'Negative Regulation Of Sequestering Of Triglyceride (GO:0010891)', 'p_value': 0.0007498314718703743, 'odds_ratio': 2499.125, 'genes': ['TREM2']}, {'rank': 3, 'term': 'Negative Regulation Of Toll-Like Receptor 2 Signaling Pathway (GO:0034136)', 'p_value': 0.0007498314718703743, 'odds_ratio': 2499.125, 'genes': ['TREM2']}, {'rank': 4, 'term': 'Regulation Of Resting Membrane Potential (GO:0060075)', 'p_value': 0.0007498314718703743, 'odds_ratio': 2499.125, 'genes': ['TREM2']}, {'rank': 5, 'term': 'Positive Regulation Of Lipoprotein Particle Clearance (GO:0010986)', 'p_value': 0.0007498314718703743, 'odds_ratio': 2499.125, 'genes': ['TREM2']}, {'rank': 6, 'term': 'Regulation Of Fat Cell Proliferation (GO:0070344)', 'p_value': 0.0007498314718703743, 'odds_ratio': 2499.125, 'genes': ['TREM2']}, {'rank': 7, 'term': 'Negative Regulation Of Astrocyte Differentiation (GO:0048712)', 'p_value': 0.0007498314718703743, 'odds_ratio': 2499.125, 'genes': ['TREM2']}, {'rank': 8, 'term': 'Positive Regulation Of Microglial Cell Activation (GO:1903980)', 'p_value': 0.0007498314718703743, 'odds_ratio': 2499.125, 'genes': ['TREM2']}, {'rank': 9, 'term': 'Positive Regulation Of Microglial Cell Migration (GO:1904141)', 'p_value': 0.0007498314718703743, 'odds_ratio': 2499.125, 'genes': ['TREM2']}, {'rank': 10, 'term': 'Positive Regulation Of Amyloid-Beta Clearance (GO:1900223)', 'p_value': 0.0008997538788767587, 'odds_ratio': 1999.2, 'genes': ['TREM2']}]
go_df = pd.DataFrame(go_bp)[['term','p_value','odds_ratio','genes']]
go_df['p_value'] = go_df['p_value'].apply(lambda p: f'{p:.2e}')
go_df['odds_ratio'] = go_df['odds_ratio'].round(1)
go_df['term'] = go_df['term'].str[:60]
go_df['n_hits'] = go_df['genes'].apply(len)
go_df['genes'] = go_df['genes'].apply(lambda g: ', '.join(g))
go_df[['term','n_hits','p_value','odds_ratio','genes']]
| term | n_hits | p_value | odds_ratio | genes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Chemokine (C-X-C Motif) Ligand 12 Signaling Pa... | 1 | 7.50e-04 | 2499.1 | TREM2 |
| 1 | Negative Regulation Of Sequestering Of Triglyc... | 1 | 7.50e-04 | 2499.1 | TREM2 |
| 2 | Negative Regulation Of Toll-Like Receptor 2 Si... | 1 | 7.50e-04 | 2499.1 | TREM2 |
| 3 | Regulation Of Resting Membrane Potential (GO:0... | 1 | 7.50e-04 | 2499.1 | TREM2 |
| 4 | Positive Regulation Of Lipoprotein Particle Cl... | 1 | 7.50e-04 | 2499.1 | TREM2 |
| 5 | Regulation Of Fat Cell Proliferation (GO:0070344) | 1 | 7.50e-04 | 2499.1 | TREM2 |
| 6 | Negative Regulation Of Astrocyte Differentiati... | 1 | 7.50e-04 | 2499.1 | TREM2 |
| 7 | Positive Regulation Of Microglial Cell Activat... | 1 | 7.50e-04 | 2499.1 | TREM2 |
| 8 | Positive Regulation Of Microglial Cell Migrati... | 1 | 7.50e-04 | 2499.1 | TREM2 |
| 9 | Positive Regulation Of Amyloid-Beta Clearance ... | 1 | 9.00e-04 | 1999.2 | TREM2 |
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np
go_bp = [{'rank': 1, 'term': 'Chemokine (C-X-C Motif) Ligand 12 Signaling Pathway (GO:0038146)', 'p_value': 0.0007498314718703743, 'odds_ratio': 2499.125, 'genes': ['TREM2']}, {'rank': 2, 'term': 'Negative Regulation Of Sequestering Of Triglyceride (GO:0010891)', 'p_value': 0.0007498314718703743, 'odds_ratio': 2499.125, 'genes': ['TREM2']}, {'rank': 3, 'term': 'Negative Regulation Of Toll-Like Receptor 2 Signaling Pathway (GO:0034136)', 'p_value': 0.0007498314718703743, 'odds_ratio': 2499.125, 'genes': ['TREM2']}, {'rank': 4, 'term': 'Regulation Of Resting Membrane Potential (GO:0060075)', 'p_value': 0.0007498314718703743, 'odds_ratio': 2499.125, 'genes': ['TREM2']}, {'rank': 5, 'term': 'Positive Regulation Of Lipoprotein Particle Clearance (GO:0010986)', 'p_value': 0.0007498314718703743, 'odds_ratio': 2499.125, 'genes': ['TREM2']}, {'rank': 6, 'term': 'Regulation Of Fat Cell Proliferation (GO:0070344)', 'p_value': 0.0007498314718703743, 'odds_ratio': 2499.125, 'genes': ['TREM2']}, {'rank': 7, 'term': 'Negative Regulation Of Astrocyte Differentiation (GO:0048712)', 'p_value': 0.0007498314718703743, 'odds_ratio': 2499.125, 'genes': ['TREM2']}, {'rank': 8, 'term': 'Positive Regulation Of Microglial Cell Activation (GO:1903980)', 'p_value': 0.0007498314718703743, 'odds_ratio': 2499.125, 'genes': ['TREM2']}]
terms = [t['term'][:45] for t in go_bp][::-1]
neglogp = [-np.log10(max(t['p_value'], 1e-300)) for t in go_bp][::-1]
fig, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=(9, 4.5))
ax.barh(terms, neglogp, color='#4fc3f7')
ax.set_xlabel('-log10(p-value)')
ax.set_title('Top GO:BP enrichment (Enrichr)')
ax.grid(axis='x', alpha=0.3)
plt.tight_layout(); plt.show()
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3. STRING protein interaction network¶
print('No STRING PPI data available')
No STRING PPI data available
4. Reactome pathway footprint¶
pw_rows = [{'gene': 'LDHA', 'n_pathways': 2, 'top_pathway': 'Pyruvate metabolism'}, {'gene': 'TFAM', 'n_pathways': 3, 'top_pathway': 'Mitochondrial transcription initiation'}, {'gene': 'TREM2', 'n_pathways': 4, 'top_pathway': 'Immunoregulatory interactions between a Lymphoid and a non-Lymphoid ce'}]
pd.DataFrame(pw_rows).sort_values('n_pathways', ascending=False)
| gene | n_pathways | top_pathway | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | TREM2 | 4 | Immunoregulatory interactions between a Lympho... |
| 1 | TFAM | 3 | Mitochondrial transcription initiation |
| 0 | LDHA | 2 | Pyruvate metabolism |
5. Hypothesis ranking (2 hypotheses)¶
hyp_data = [('Lactate/Pyruvate Ratio Dynamics in CSF as a Neuroinflam', 0.665), ('Mitochondrial Biogenesis Rate as a Dynamic Biomarker of', 0.652)]
titles = [h[0] for h in hyp_data][::-1]
scores = [h[1] for h in hyp_data][::-1]
fig, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=(10, max(8, len(titles)*0.4)))
colors = ['#ef5350' if s >= 0.6 else '#ffa726' if s >= 0.5 else '#66bb6a' for s in scores]
ax.barh(range(len(titles)), scores, color=colors)
ax.set_yticks(range(len(titles))); ax.set_yticklabels(titles, fontsize=7)
ax.set_xlabel('Composite Score'); ax.set_title('Which metabolic biomarkers can distinguish therapeutic response from disease progression in neurodegeneration trials?')
ax.grid(axis='x', alpha=0.3)
plt.tight_layout(); plt.show()
labels = ['Lactate/Pyruvate Ratio Dynamics in CSF a', 'Mitochondrial Biogenesis Rate as a Dynam']
matrix = np.array([[0.6, 0.8, 0.7, 0.7, 0.0, 0.7, 0.8, 0.8, 0.9], [0.8, 0.4, 0.7, 0.8, 0.0, 0.4, 0.5, 0.5, 0.7]])
dims = ['novelty_score', 'feasibility_score', 'impact_score', 'mechanistic_plausibility_score', 'clinical_relevance_score', 'data_availability_score', 'reproducibility_score', 'druggability_score', 'safety_profile_score']
if matrix.size:
fig, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=(10, 5))
im = ax.imshow(matrix, cmap='RdYlGn', aspect='auto', vmin=0, vmax=1)
ax.set_xticks(range(len(dims)))
ax.set_xticklabels([d.replace('_score','').replace('_',' ').title() for d in dims],
rotation=45, ha='right', fontsize=8)
ax.set_yticks(range(len(labels))); ax.set_yticklabels(labels, fontsize=7)
ax.set_title('Score dimensions — hypotheses')
plt.colorbar(im, ax=ax, shrink=0.8)
plt.tight_layout(); plt.show()
else:
print('No score data available')
6. PubMed literature per hypothesis¶
Hypothesis 1: Lactate/Pyruvate Ratio Dynamics in CSF as a Neuroinflammation-Metaboli¶
Target genes: LDHA, TREM2 · Composite score: 0.665
Lactate/Pyruvate Ratio Dynamics in CSF as a Neuroinflammation-Metabolism Interface Biomarker¶
Mechanistic Hypothesis Overview¶
This hypothesis proposes a disease-modifying strategy centered on Lactate/Pyruvate Ratio Dynamics in CSF as a Neuroinflammation-Metabolism Interface Biomarker as
print('No PubMed results for hypothesis h-5afacdfe')
No PubMed results for hypothesis h-5afacdfe
Hypothesis 2: Mitochondrial Biogenesis Rate as a Dynamic Biomarker of Neuroprotectio¶
Target genes: TFAM, MT-CO1 · Composite score: 0.652
Mitochondrial Biogenesis Rate as a Dynamic Biomarker of Neuroprotection¶
Mechanistic Hypothesis Overview¶
This hypothesis proposes a disease-modifying strategy centered on Mitochondrial Biogenesis Rate as a Dynamic Biomarker of Neuroprotection as a mechanistic intervention point in neurod
print('No PubMed results for hypothesis h-28d5b559')
No PubMed results for hypothesis h-28d5b559
7. Knowledge graph edges (6 total)¶
edge_data = [{'source': 'h-5afacdfe', 'relation': 'targets', 'target': 'LDHA, TREM2', 'strength': 0.5}, {'source': 'h-28d5b559', 'relation': 'targets', 'target': 'TFAM, MT-CO1', 'strength': 0.5}, {'source': 'LDHA, TREM2', 'relation': 'associated_with', 'target': 'translational_neuroscience', 'strength': 0.4}, {'source': 'LDHA, TREM2', 'relation': 'involved_in', 'target': 'glycolytic_reprogramming___ast', 'strength': 0.4}, {'source': 'TFAM, MT-CO1', 'relation': 'associated_with', 'target': 'translational_neuroscience', 'strength': 0.4}, {'source': 'TFAM, MT-CO1', 'relation': 'involved_in', 'target': 'pgc_1____mitochondrial_biogene', 'strength': 0.4}]
if edge_data:
pd.DataFrame(edge_data).head(25)
else:
print('No KG edge data available')
Caveats¶
This notebook uses real Forge tool calls from live APIs:
- Enrichment is against curated gene-set libraries (Enrichr)
- STRING/Reactome/HPA/MyGene reflect curated knowledge
- PubMed literature is search-relevance ranked, not systematic review