We present the cellular quantitative structure–activity
relationship (cell-QSAR) concept that adapts ligand-based and receptor-based
3D-QSAR methods for use with cell-level activities. The unknown intracellular
drug disposition is accounted for by the disposition function (DF),
a model-based, nonlinear function of a drug’s lipophilicity,
acidity, and other properties. We conceptually combined the DF with
our multispecies, multimode version of the frequently used ligand-based
comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) method, forming a single
correlation function for fitting the cell-level activities. The resulting
cell-QSAR model was applied to the Selwood data on filaricidal activities
of antimycin analogues. Their molecules are flexible, ionize under
physiologic conditions, form different intramolecular H-bonds for
neutral and ionized species, and cross several membranes to reach
unknown receptors. The calibrated cell-QSAR model is significantly
more predictive than other models lacking the disposition part and
provides valuable structure optimization clues by factorizing the
cell-level activity of each compound into the contributions of the
receptor binding and disposition.