Overcoming a false-positive mechanism in RapidFire MRM-based high throughput screening

De Lin; Lesley-Anne Pearson; Shamshad Ahmad; Sandra O'Neill; John Post; Colin Robinson; Duncan E. Scott; Ian H. Gilbert

doi:10.1016/j.slasd.2025.100252

Overcoming a false-positive mechanism in RapidFire MRM-based high throughput screening

De Lin, Lesley-Anne Pearson, Shamshad Ahmad, Sandra O'Neill, John Post, Colin Robinson, Duncan E. Scott, Ian H. Gilbert (Lead / Corresponding author)

Drug Discovery Unit

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Abstract

False-positives plague High Throughput Screening in general and are costly as they consume resource and time to resolve. Methods that can rapidly identify such compounds at the initial screen are therefore of great value. Advances in mass spectrometry have led to the ability to screen inhibitors in drug discovery applications by direct detection of an enzyme reaction product. The technique is free from some of the artefacts that trouble classical assays such as fluorescence interference. Its direct nature negates the need for coupling enzymes and hence is simpler with fewer opportunities for artefacts. Despite its myriad advantages, we report here a mechanism for false-positive hits which has not been reported in the literature. Further we have developed a pipeline for detecting these false-positive hits and suggest a method to mitigate against them.

Original language	English
Article number	100252
Number of pages	5
Journal	SLAS Discovery
Volume	35
Early online date	18 Aug 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.slasd.2025.100252
Publication status	Published - Sept 2025

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10.1016/j.slasd.2025.100252Licence: CC BY

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title = "Overcoming a false-positive mechanism in RapidFire MRM-based high throughput screening",

abstract = "False-positives plague High Throughput Screening in general and are costly as they consume resource and time to resolve. Methods that can rapidly identify such compounds at the initial screen are therefore of great value. Advances in mass spectrometry have led to the ability to screen inhibitors in drug discovery applications by direct detection of an enzyme reaction product. The technique is free from some of the artefacts that trouble classical assays such as fluorescence interference. Its direct nature negates the need for coupling enzymes and hence is simpler with fewer opportunities for artefacts. Despite its myriad advantages, we report here a mechanism for false-positive hits which has not been reported in the literature. Further we have developed a pipeline for detecting these false-positive hits and suggest a method to mitigate against them.",

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AU - Lin, De

AU - Pearson, Lesley-Anne

AU - Ahmad, Shamshad

AU - O'Neill, Sandra

AU - Post, John

AU - Robinson, Colin

AU - Scott, Duncan E.

AU - Gilbert, Ian H.

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N2 - False-positives plague High Throughput Screening in general and are costly as they consume resource and time to resolve. Methods that can rapidly identify such compounds at the initial screen are therefore of great value. Advances in mass spectrometry have led to the ability to screen inhibitors in drug discovery applications by direct detection of an enzyme reaction product. The technique is free from some of the artefacts that trouble classical assays such as fluorescence interference. Its direct nature negates the need for coupling enzymes and hence is simpler with fewer opportunities for artefacts. Despite its myriad advantages, we report here a mechanism for false-positive hits which has not been reported in the literature. Further we have developed a pipeline for detecting these false-positive hits and suggest a method to mitigate against them.

AB - False-positives plague High Throughput Screening in general and are costly as they consume resource and time to resolve. Methods that can rapidly identify such compounds at the initial screen are therefore of great value. Advances in mass spectrometry have led to the ability to screen inhibitors in drug discovery applications by direct detection of an enzyme reaction product. The technique is free from some of the artefacts that trouble classical assays such as fluorescence interference. Its direct nature negates the need for coupling enzymes and hence is simpler with fewer opportunities for artefacts. Despite its myriad advantages, we report here a mechanism for false-positive hits which has not been reported in the literature. Further we have developed a pipeline for detecting these false-positive hits and suggest a method to mitigate against them.

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SN - 2472-5552

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JO - SLAS Discovery

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Overcoming a false-positive mechanism in RapidFire MRM-based high throughput screening

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Wellcome Centre for Anti-Infectives Research

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Overcoming a false-positive mechanism in RapidFire MRM-based high throughput screening

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