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comp-020 provenance + methodology notes

Independence statement (load-bearing)

This re-run was conducted explicitly without consulting comp-018 / comp-019 outputs. The agent received only the target-node list and compound-class scope; no compound names, no prior findings, no predecessor's recommendations.

The intent — per the brief and per CLAUDE.md §Multi-model synthesis as guard against epistemic homogenization — is to produce an independent second-opinion data point that can be compared against the predecessor to surface (a) narrative-cohesion bias in the predecessor's headline, (b) missed top-tier candidates in either scan, © divergent assay-format judgments.

Pre-commit verification gate compliance (CLAUDE.md Rule 4)

Each load-bearing IC50 / CH50 / AP50 / Ki number in outputs/per-node-findings.md was grep-verified against primary-paper full text in the Paperclip MCP corpus before being written to the page:

Number Paper Verification anchor
Helicteres compound 5 CH50 0.009 ± 0.002 mM PMC6273495 grep result line 18 (verbatim from paper)
Helicteres compound 4 CH50 0.040 ± 0.009 mM PMC6273495 grep result line 18
Luteolin CH50 0.19 mM, AP50 0.17 mM PMC7126446 grep result line 10 + Table 1
Heparin LP 2 / CP 39 / AP 76 μg/mL PMC7212410 grep result line 45
Heparin tetrasaccharide LP IC50 21 μg/mL PMC7212410 grep result line 45
Bupleurum BCPs LP 0.098 mg/mL PMC4629277 grep result line 46
Bupleurum BPs LP 1.057 mg/mL PMC4629277 grep result line 46
Marine fucoidan ANW IC50 0.98 μg/mL PMC4728500 grep result line 39
Marine SJW-3 IC50 3.11 μg/mL PMC4728500 grep result line 23
Ligusticum LCP-I-I ICH50 26.3 ± 2.2 μg/mL PMC6155779 grep result line 18
Rosmarinic acid C3b 34 μM, CP 180 μM, AP 160 μM, C5conv 1500 μM PMID 10353266 (Sahu 1999), 1761351 (Peake 1991), 3198307 (Englberger 1988) WebSearch result snippet (Sahu 1999 Biochem Pharmacol) — primary-paper full text NOT in Paperclip corpus; numbers carry [PRIMARY-PAPER-CONFIRMATION-PENDING] flag

The rosmarinic acid numbers are the only load-bearing values in this re-run that did not pass through Paperclip-corpus grep verification because the 1988/1991/1999 papers predate PMC's full-text coverage. They are flagged in the wiki page as [CITATION-CONFIRMED-VIA-WEBSEARCH-SNIPPET, primary-paper full-text fetch deferred to Phase 2].

Anti-pattern guard (DAF SCR1-4 disulfide-count incident)

Every numerical claim above is sourced from a specific paper line, not synthesized from inference. The DAF SCR1-4 hallucination pattern (3 disulfides per SCR domain × 4 = 12, off-by-50% from UniProt P08174 ground truth of 8) was the trigger for CLAUDE.md Rule 4. comp-020 explicitly conforms.

Multilingual scope — partial execution disclosure

The CLAUDE.md §Global-multilingual research by default rule requires non-English sources to be scanned alongside PubMed. In this re-run:

  • Substantively executed: English-language scans, including English-journal publications by China-based groups (Daofeng Chen / Fudan; Quanbin Zhang / OUC). Most of the substantive TCM-derived natural-product complement-modulator work IS published in English-language journals by these groups, partially mitigating Western-research bias risk.
  • Partially executed: WebSearch queries against Chinese-keyword anti-complement topics returned no primary-paper IC50 numbers in the time budget; CNKI / WanFang / J-STAGE direct full-text fetches were NOT executed.
  • Phase 2 follow-up explicitly flagged: dedicated CNKI/WanFang Chinese-keyword query (补体抑制剂, 经典途径, 旁路途径, 凝集素途径) + J-STAGE Kampo query (補体 + 漢方医学) + KISS Korean query.

This partial-execution disclosure is per CLAUDE.md §Pre-commit verification gate — flag what was NOT done, don't paper over it.

ChEMBL coverage gap — methodology

For each top-tier compound surfaced, a ChEMBL ID was looked up via PubChem cross-reference. The following compounds returned no ChEMBL anti-complement assay records despite documented primary-literature IC50:

  • Rosmarinic acid (CHEMBL165102 exists; anticomplement assays NOT curated despite 30+ year primary-literature record)
  • Helicteres lignans (machicendonal, dihydrodehydrodiconiferyl alcohol) — not in ChEMBL at all
  • Bupleurum polysaccharides — polysaccharide structural class systematically absent from ChEMBL
  • Marine fucoidans — same structural exclusion

The methodology is the same as comp-013 / comp-014 ChEMBL gap analysis: structurally, ChEMBL anti-complement curation is biased toward synthetic clinical-stage compounds (iptacopan, danicopan, compstatin/pegcetacoplan) and away from natural-product / polysaccharide classes.

What this re-run does NOT do

  • Does NOT propose comp-NNN follow-ups to wet-lab any specific compound (recommendations are Phase 2 candidate flags, not gating decisions)
  • Does NOT triage compounds by gut-luminal tractability (that's the comp-004/comp-013 framework, separate)
  • Does NOT propose engineering routes (e.g., koji biosynthetic pathway expression of rosmarinic acid)
  • Does NOT recommend supplements or clinical actions (Phase 0 — Research & Design)